Invalid
by at-a-glance
Summary: AU. Danny Fenton he was just fourteen, young enough to be naive, young enough to die. Who could have foreseen what would come of just one mistake.
1. Chapter 1

Young Danny Fenton he was just fourteen when he wandered haplessly into his parent's machine. It was child-like curiosity that drove him into it coupled by the extra influence of his just as curious friends. Maybe they all felt the doubt in the air, the uneasiness, and the overall portending of something terribly wrong. But whether the discomfort of the situation was apparent or not the events still followed.

In theory and in a previous practice the machine shouldn't have even worked. He'd seen it himself, it was a failed experiment. Just going inside it to "explore" was completely irrelevant it didn't mean anything or at least it shouldn't have. But he was only fourteen, still young enough to be naïve, still young enough to die.

Because fourteen year old Daniel Fenton, better known as Danny, went into the portal on that fateful day, something did happen. It wasn't supposed to, technically based upon the witness of those who designed the machine; the odds of it working were miniscule. It shouldn't have even happened but it did.

Danny, while being watched with anticipation by his friends Sam and Tucker, ventured into the ghost zone or the empty portal. He only took a few steps, he only breathed a few deep breaths and then…then there was a blinding light and an ear splitting scream. The friends affirmed that the second it all happened they had to turn away, they could not look into the light it was far too bright and the cries of their closest friend struck so much fear in them that they wouldn't bear to look if they could.

The parents, who had just been reentering the house at the time after making a short trip to the shed in their backyard remembered hearing an unholy noise in their basement. It didn't hit them until later that that horrible noise was their own son's screaming.

What followed was all just a blur, Sam, a naturally tough girl with a gothic persona remembered the light fading out and she recalled as it did so that her eye was caught by a figure crashing out of the portal. She didn't know why, but it seemed as though Danny had been spit from the portal, like he was rejected. She could still recollect that without another thought of anything else she had raced over to where his seemingly frail body had been thrown.

Tucker remembered following her, he heard her move first, suddenly that strange deaf feeling he'd gotten from the chaos and shock of the situation had subsided and he was pulled back into reality. The lab was dark; the power had gone out no doubt to the incredible power surge that something that needed so much energy had caused. But despite the darkness of himself and his friend Sam, he saw Danny's body. Shockingly and more terrifically his body was emitting a glow, unnatural and eerie.

There was no way that something this unreal would happen to someone he held so dear. Sam hesitated to touch Danny, both from fear of being infected by whatever was radiating off of him and from the even more present fear that in doing so she'd learn a horrible truth. But it had to be done, if they didn't know how could they get the proper help? And although she reached down sullenly and rest her hand over his chest; the mere touch of human hands caused a paroxysm in the boy and Sam immediately fell back into Tucker.

Somehow by the grace of whatever deity above, the boy had survived, he sputtered for air his eyes shot open and for a brief second the children were almost certain they'd seen glowing green eyes, but it was only a second before they realized they were staring into desperate near-dead blue eyes. He was barely breathing at this point choking for what little oxygen he could. It was then at that moment that the door to the basement based lab flew open and two parents dressed exuberantly in bright hazmat outfits came down a flashlight in hand.

"What's going on down here?"

"Danny needs help now!"

"Call 911!"

"My God, Danny hold on!"

--

It was always gloomy; he couldn't remember the brighter days and wondered if there was ever such a thing that existed. Memories still haunted him and often kept him up at night. It wasn't abnormal for him to be wandering around his room into the early hours of the morning. Most often he was awake promptly at three o' clock a strange occurrence that almost never failed.

"Danny, you okay?"

He turned his head from the window and from the rain to see a tall redhead with gorgeous light blue eyes staring at him from the doorway.

"I'm fine." He answered.

She smiled at him sympathetically and walked over to him and put her arm around his shoulder. By now he had grown taller than her but she was never on the short side. "Come on little brother, you should go back to sleep."

He didn't comply like he normally did but she didn't force him. Instead he stood staring out the window as she stood beside him. "Jazz…" He began but stopped lost in thoughts.

The pattering of rain against the window was morosely soothing he slowly raised his hand up to the glass and pressed it against the cool surface. She watched him in a calm manner her inquisitive eyes were always watching him, her mind reeling with all the possibilities of what he could possibly be thinking.

"Danny you should-"

"They don't come much at all anymore." He interrupted bleakly. "Day by day, week by week, month by month, year...by painstaking year I became less relevant."

"That's not true Danny, they still care about you. It's hard for them, you understand."

His sharp blue eyes met with hers. "I don't you know." He responded, a decided change to his usual resentful agreement.

She sighed heavily and immediately regretted the action, it wasn't likely that he'd take offense to something so simple and natural but for him an action that was usually an unconscious reaction did not come half as easily. And she knew it made him feel isolated just to be reminded it.

"You know I'm here for you, always. Please," She urged taking his arm in hands urging him. "Please little brother let me put you back into bed. You know what lack of sleep does to you and you know tomorrow you-"

"I know Jazz." He replied and let the redheaded young woman take him back to his bed.

There was a maternal air that Jazz held whether she meant to or not. He didn't hate it entirely, it was comforting some days. It was never all that horrible to be doted on especially on those days when he just needed to be loved. She was always there and she'd always loved him regardless of whatever afflicted him.

"I know it bothers you…"She began weakly as she walked over to a machine that he had turned off. "But you know we have to keep it on."

She flicked the switch and the machine flashed into life adding a soft green light to the gloomy room. He glared at it in antipathy everything about it seemed to mock him, she gave him an understanding look and he turned his head toward the wall knowing there would be no argument on it tonight.

"I promise, tomorrow I'll talk to them in the morning and see what we can do about this. Goodnight Danny."

"'Night."

She walked to the doorway and held the handle and watched him as he lay with his eyes closed but was not at all near sleep. "I love you." She sighed before quietly closing the door.

* * *

_There first chapter, kinda short, but on purpose...Umm yes I've been working on this for a while, it's still not finished but I might as well put it up whil I still have the mind to. There, enjoy._


	2. Chapter 2

She wasn't surprised when she went to wake him that he was tired and that he shuffled around the apartment lethargically. She didn't rush him in fact Jazz, the ever insightful one, had woken him up early enough that he had time to be slow. She waited quietly in the small kitchen a cup of coffee in hand and the paper in the other.

Finally he appeared by the table near her, she often forgot how silently he could tread on the pale yellow linoleum tiles that made up their kitchen floor. Jazz was none too certain if he meant to be so quiet or not. She looked up at him; he was always so pale, he always looked so sick. She grimaced internally at the thought; she hated to even recognize that Danny was sick.

"Do you want anything to eat?" She asked setting her paper down but still gripped her coffee mug.

"I shouldn't." He answered listlessly and almost automatically, his glazed over blue eyes stared into hers.

"You're right." She agreed and took another sip of her coffee calmly. "We don't have to leave for another twenty minutes, do you want to relax or be early?"

He shrugged indifferently. "Doesn't matter we might as well just go, no use prolonging it."

He walked toward the living room where the door was. Jazz followed him but diverted her route quickly to grab a bag that sat in her room. He waited by the door and upon looking at him, she noticed briefly that against the grainy brown of the carpet and doorways and sickly tan yellow of the walls his skin was incredibly pale. She figured the darkness of his hair didn't help, but once again Jazz shook these thoughts from her mind.

They were always there in the back of her head, always arising at the most inopportune moments. Although admittedly it was never an inconvenient time to think of it as much as it was just a distasteful topic for her. Jazz figured it always would be.

Danny caught sight of the duffle bag as she threw it into the backseat of the car he winced lightly. "Do you have to bring that?"

"I don't like it either, but you know as I do that we always have to be prepared for anything."

"Normal people never have to take this many precautions." He muttered attempting to be inaudible but nothing escaped his keen sister.

She chose not to acknowledge the statement knowing that he didn't want her to hear it. She simply started the car and began the seemingly endless trip to their destination.

Danny stared out the window as the little droplets of rain gathered on the window and dragged their way across the glass. Everyday was always so dark regardless of whether the sun was out or not. He watched as another droplet of interest slid across the glass and disappeared from his line of sight, its journey completed for good.

He leaned his head against the window feeling the coolness of its surface against his skin. The ride, although an hour long, was never long enough for him. He wanted the road to stretch on forever so that he could always exist in a state of safety. Although things were uncertain now at least he was blissfully ignorant and that made him safe. And although he knew his sister was at her wit's end in all this uncertainty he was glad he didn't know. Danny settled against the glass and closed his eyes; he figured he didn't need to know.

Jazz pulled her car into the extensive parking lot that sat before the large looming building. What was about a hospital that was so intimidating? She probably already knew, but refused to even answer her own question.

_It's because people die here, Jazz._ She shook her head slightly; she hated her mind some days. She gingerly averted her attention from the building to the sleeping figure in the car seat beside her.

"Danny, wake up." He responded with a groan. "We're here Danny."

He stretched, cracked his neck, then sat upright and looked out the windshield to confirm her words. Once he used to regard this place with a look of dread but that had been replaced by ennui. In fact almost everything about his once lively personality had been devoured by a growing apathy and exhaustion.

Jazz led him inside where they waited for what could've been tantamount to eternity until finally he could be seen. It was his normal doctor, a man in his early forties with a receding shock of golden red hair. He had gray eyes that looked down upon you with this mix of tiredness and spunk that was a strange combination.

"Ah Danny, how nice to see you again." He greeted taking the boy under his arm as he led him to a room. Routinely he walked toward the bed and sat down without a thought. Dr. Lawrence looked at him inquisitively and began the normal steps of the examination.

Vitals, reflexes, temperature, weight, and bloodsamples, Danny did it all without a thought. Jazz watched on as she often did and only interjected when a question was posed more towards her then him. But for the most part she let Danny answer he was seventeen and was nearly an adult; he didn't need her to speak for him. But that didn't necessarily mean that he didn't want her to.

"So Danny, have you been sleeping lately?" The man asked as wrapped his stethoscope around his neck.

"Not as much as I'd like to." Danny answered obscurely knowing the vagueness prodded at the doctor's nerves. But he complied with the discontented look in the man's eyes. "I wake up in the middle of the night sometimes."

The doctor looked at Danny and nodded then looked to Jazz. "Any episodes?"

"Not for three weeks, I believe you're aware of those. Am I correct?"

The doctor flicked through his clipboard and nodded. "Yes Ms. Fenton, if I recall right I received a few frantic calls that week from you."

Jazz flushed a little while Danny had the intelligence to figure that she was probably in distress at those times, he didn't know about the calls nor of the desperation in which she made them. Danny didn't mock his sister or even let on that he was discomfited that she was in such duress over him.

"Danny, you claim you're never aware of these fits unless you're told. Is this true?" He nodded. "Are you sure, I know it's been a while but is there really nothing at all that seems to stand out to you? Chest pain, nausea, dizziness, anything?"

Danny shook his head staring intently forward trying his hardest to remember anything from those times. "No. I can't think of anything if I do feel something I forget about it, you know?"

Dr. Lawrence nodded. "I understand, it's possible that you're aware of it as it happens but after you lose consciousness it fades out of your memory."

Dr. Lawrence turned his back to speak to Jazz who was standing behind the man; they began to discuss things quietly but not in attempt to keep it from Danny. He was allowed to hear everything they were saying, but he strained to hear. It slowly became apparent to Danny; they weren't speaking quietly at all his hearing was fading. It was getting cold, very cold.

He threw a hand in front of his line of sight to attempt to get a clear image, but it was blurred. He looked frantically through the haze in search of his sister. His chest tightened and his breathing became increasingly constricted, he was finding he couldn't take a breath at all. Somewhere in the indistinguishable world around him he caught sight of bright red hair.

He clutched the edge of the bed in effort to hold himself up and by some sort of phenomenon he managed to cry out his sister's name. The desperation in which he choked 'Jazz' out was enough for the two adults to turn their sights on Danny immediately. Jazz rushed to her brother instantly and grabbed his shoulders to stop him from falling over. Dr. Lawrence sent out a code and took over holding Danny's shoulders and gently lay him down.

Jazz backed up away from the bed knowing she needed to make room for other medical professionals to come in and assist Dr. Lawrence. Two nurses and an intern came rushing in almost immediately and Jazz listened vigilantly catching every word they said amongst each other. It didn't take that long; most times it never took too long, for them to restore her little brother's breathing.

She wrung her hands nervously as Dr. Lawrence stepped back and turned slightly to acknowledge that he was willing to talk to her now, that the eminent threat that had always hung over their heads was placated now.

"You know what this means, right Jazz?" He asked folding his arms against his chest as was his habit when he was frustrated. He seemed intent on watching a nurse set Danny up in the hospital bed, IV and all.

"Yes." She conceded. "You know I'm prepared for this sort of thing. I have stuff in my car for an overnight observation, as always."

"I'm assuming that you won't retrieve your things until he is awake as is custom."

The twenty year old nodded lightly and the doctor stepped forward slipping the stethoscope from his neck and proceeding in the routine of checking Danny's vitals following the episode after which he will leave Jazz to herself.

Jazz was silent as he walked away; the nurse did a quickly check of the IV before nodding in the redhead's direction and scurrying out of the room. Jazz sighed and plopped down into the chair beside the bed.

She gazed over Danny's rigid features; he never seemed content in his sleep anymore. She never knew why but it always disturbed her. If he should ever find peace it should at least be sanctified in his sleep. Gently she stroked his hand, it twitched in response, and she smiled faintly knowing he wouldn't be out for too long.

A spasm rocked Danny's body and he shuddered uneasily. Another spasm caused him to waken in confusion his body rocketed upward with a gasp but he was caught immediately in warm arms. He felt the slender fingers comb through his hair and recognized the scent before he fully regained clear vision.

"Danny, thank God." She whispered, long had faded that uncontrollable crying she used to do. By now she'd grown used to this oscillation between life and death.

She kept him locked in her arms and he buried his head in her neck submissively and whimpered. He hated making her afraid and he hated feeling scared at the same time. Jazz rocked him back and forth and hummed lightly to him her hands familiarized themselves with the feel of his hair. It was all so surreal, any day she could lose him and never know why.

--

Jazz dumped her keys on the table as she returned to the empty apartment alone, on almost every occasion that Danny had an overnight stay she always stayed with him. But today was one of those rare occasions in which she couldn't stay. It tore her apart when he wasn't close enough and he was so sick.

Whenever Danny wasn't around she let those disgusting thoughts roam free. She couldn't repress them forever and she had to admit it to herself sometimes or she would lose her mind in that sort of denial. Jazz flipped her laptop open and stared at the blue screen weakly, the glow emitted a strange blue color that reflected on her pale skin. She had a paper to write, a long semester paper that was worth a decent chunk of her grade.

With a groan she lulled her head around, her neck made weary cracking sounds into the quiet room. This was going to be a long night, and it was only seven. Stress overwhelmed her and she threw her head into the table and just sat there her forehead throbbing. Her empty state of mind was filled right back up at the sound of knocking at her door.

"What is it now?" She queried resentfully.

The thin girl got up and answered the door and found a boy with gentle brown eyes and bleached blond hair with eccentric pink tips standing in the hall with a pizza in his hands. "Hey Jazzy, figured you haven't eaten."

Her stomach growled at the sight of the white box and she peered at it. "You're something else." She remarked with a grin and stood to the side as he walked in.

"Bad day?" The boy asked observing the apartment, he knew from a glance she was alone. He set the pizza box on the coffee table and sat on the couch beside the tired Jazz.

"Just another day in the life." She responded and reached for a piece of pizza hungrily. He waited until she finished one piece before pursuing a conversation with her that he figured would ultimately upset her and kill her ravenous appetite.

"Is he…okay?"

"Oh Mike, it never gets easier, it kills me every time." She admitted and leaned her head onto his shoulder. "It's so unfair."

"Well I could tell you life is unfair, but I'm not even going to patronize you with that clichéd mess." He paused and wrapped an arm around her. "Oh Jazzy you're the most obstinate person I know, I mean seriously your perseverance is admirable."

"I'm tired of pity-parties Mike, I'm not even saying anything anymore, or at least its nothing you haven't already heard before." She grabbed another slice of pizza and took a bite before speaking again.

"I'm starting to wonder what we're fighting for now. I mean, as cruel as this sounds, the life we've been trying to save is an abject one that is completely unfulfilled. He can't live a normal life, not like this, he's so restrained by limitations. His entire life is revolved around staying alive. There's not even a diagnosis forget a prognosis or a cure. It's been three years and no one knows what the hell happened to him." She fumed.

"Don't get me wrong I want my brother alive, but my God his entire life is turning into a pointless struggle for nothing. I must sound like a horrible person."

Mike nudged her lightly. "No you don't, you're saying you want Danny to live but you don't want him to suffer. You're not a horrible person and no one would blame you for saying anything like this. Jazz you're fed up with how empty his life is and how little you can do."

Jazz leaned against him in quiet desperation. "I still have that stupid term paper to write."

Mike sighed. "You know what we're going to do Wednesday? I'm taking you to class and you're going to tell your professors what you're dealing with."

"What? No, I can handle this; this is what life is like." Jazz protested.

"Jazz you have a sick brother, no parents, you're constantly in and out of hospitals, and you have a demanding job, and school to juggle. I'm pretty sure they won't tell you this is how life is. They're going to give you a break, you desperately need some help."

"I guess…I guess you're right." She murmured. "I miss Danny."

"I know." He whispered and rubbed her shoulder as they sat in the quiet apartment. "I know."

* * *

_Wow wow wow! I got so many reviews for the first chapter alone, love for you all!! That's why I updated asap, oh my god you guys actually like this? Thank you, much love, hope this is an enjoyable chapter. More to come._


	3. Chapter 3

Jazz felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and she skyrocketed upwards and glanced at her watch. She did an immediate double take at seeing the time.

"Damn, I'm late!" She shouted desperately pulling Mike's arm off of her. He grumbled and moved slightly.

"What's wrong Jazzy?" He mumbled tiredly.

"I'm late, late for work." She answered quickly ripping off her shirt and running into her room for her work shirt and jeans. "Ugh how could you let me sleep so late?" She asked running back into the living room where Mike was stretching on the couch.

"Calm down Jazz, they'll understand." He said.

"No, no I can't be late, I'll get fired. Oh God if I get fired I can't pay the bills, and if I can't pay the bills I lose the house and if I lose the house I can't take care of Danny. Then the state will take him away and then who'll take care of him then? I can't lose my job!" She scrambled looking for something desperately.

Mike rolled his eyes stood up and grabbed a headband off the coffee table and handed it to the neurotic girl. "Calm down Jazz, you're thinking of all the extremes that aren't going to happen. You know I'll take care of you if anything happens."

She put the head band in her short orange hair and smiled calmly at his words. "Yeah I know it's just…oh wait I forgot!" She gasped. "Danny, he needs to be picked up today, but I'll be at work till eleven, what can I do?"

Mike put a finger to her mouth stopping her. "I'll get him, alright?"

"But…really? Well I suppose…are you sure you can handle it?"

"Jazz, the kid is seventeen; I doubt I'll have problems. Besides I like Danny, he's like the little brother I never had you know? I'll take care of him, I know how." He assured gesticulating.

Jazz sighed. "Alright, you can pick him up, three o'clock, okay? I gotta jet now, love you."

"Love you too." He replied kissing her on the cheek before she disappeared out the door.

Two hours after picking up the place a little, Mike hopped into his car and began the long drive to the hospital Danny was at. He didn't mind driving alone he rather liked the extra time to think and sing. When he arrived he knew exactly where to go. He'd done this before so he stated his name and purpose to the dreary lady at the front desk wasn't very yielding.

"I'm sorry sir, you aren't his kin or his legal guardian I can't let you take him out." She droned staring at him through half-lidded accusing eyes.

"Seriously? I'll call his sister, look I'm suppose to pick him up and bring him home and Jazz doesn't need you to help break the bank for her. She can't afford another night of him staying here."

"I'm sorry sir." She began again in an aggravated tone.

"Don't start with me lady I-"

"Is there a problem?" Dr. Lawrence interjected narrowly Mike recoiled automatically. "Ah Michael here for Daniel I'm assuming? I've already received Jasmine's call."

"Yes, yes I am." He stated smugly giving the lady a look he was tempted to stick his tounge out at her, but refrained.

Danny walked out of the room, a blue bag slug over his shoulder and his baggy clothes just hanging off him. That was the thing that always bothered Mike when he looked at the boy; he never seemed to fit into anything at all. His body was much too small, he knew Jazz hated it too; it was just another reminder that he was sick.

Mike put on a smile at the sight of him he put his arm around the boy's shoulder in a protective and guiding manner. "Come on kiddo, what do you say we get out of here?"

The car ride was always too long, time was always so short, and Danny just didn't have the patience for either. Mike would take glances over at the boy but always felt so distant from him. What could he say?

Danny broke the silence with a grim statement; he looked directly over at Mike. "Have you ever thought about dying?"

The question threw the man off, he looked into the solemn blue eyes that were staring at him then looked back to the road, and continued this motion repeatedly for a while.

He chuckled nervously. "Umm what?"

"You heard me."

"Uh well, I can't really…uh. This is something you should really talk to Jazz about." He stuttered.

"No Mike, I want to talk to you. Can't you talk to me?" Danny inquired all the seriousness of the world seemed to shine in his eyes.

He was so young and the topic was so grim. But Mike felt a reminiscent of himself in the boy, a devastated seventeen year old with no one in the world…that wasn't true he'd had someone.

Mike emitted a heavy sigh. "Yes Danny, I did." Danny looked at him in shock and Mike let out a cynical laugh.

"I'm pretty sure I was around your age, I had no money, my already messed up family had been evicted, I lived in a small impoverished apartment with nothing, and I was after a girl I knew never loved me. I worked so hard, I never enjoyed myself; my school work was failing even though they all asserted that I was brilliant. What did it matter to me though? Everything was out of proportion and everything I knew was wrong, I hated everything and everyone and I didn't want to exist anymore…nothing I did ever made a difference everything was for nothing. But not to her."

"Her?" Danny queried.

"She was the only one who ever gave me substance, who knew what to say even if I didn't want to hear it. In fact she always spoke too much of the right thing…she was perfection."

"Nobody's perfect." Danny muttered.

Mike looked at him with a faint smile. "I know, but she came pretty damn close. But she came from a loveless abusive family, she may have had all the love to give to me, but she never had love for herself. It was always for everyone else, she always made sure everyone was feeling good and whenever someone she cared about was down she always motivated them."

"So she…?"

"Yeah, she must've just known something was wrong and she started speaking to me, asking me questions, and when I admitted I was too afraid of sounding like a wimp, she told me having feelings didn't make me any less of a man. We spoke for hours, she said things I never wanted to hear, and she made me feel ashamed for ever hating myself."

"She let me cry, it was then that I realized I was someone. She told me I was worth something, she saw something good in people, she saw something good in me." Mike paused and smiled to himself.

"I wish I had known then that she loved me." He laughed almost bitterly he cleared his throat quickly. "The point is Danny you may feel like there's nothing for you, but there's always someone, even if it's just one. Life is worth living in the end, whether you save the world or just someone's life. As long as you've made a difference, you were worth the time."

Danny leaned back in his seat. "You sound like you really love this girl." He remarked avoiding what he had just been told for the time being.

Mike looked at him thoughtfully. "I probably will always, but it means nothing, she's dead."

"I'm sorry." Danny uttered regretfully.

"It's funny; you always feel an emptiness when you fail to save the people who saved you."

"Do you think you could've saved her?"

"I don't know, I'll never know. I always feel like I could've." He sighed. "Danny, she didn't die in vain, sure the night after she was killed I wanted to be with her, but I realized that would've been against everything she'd lived for."

Mike stopped talking and looked at Danny empathetically, in that boy he saw himself, the same tortured empty shell with dead eyes flashed before him. "Danny, promise you'll talk to me about these things." He requested solidly.

"But I thought you didn't…"

"I was wrong." He interrupted. "I can help you, I want to help you. Danny you and Jazz are like family to me and I'll do anything to protect you both."

Danny was caught off guard by that statement; he'd forgotten what it'd been like to have someone else believe that. No one, besides Jazz, had ever loved him just because they wanted to. "T-thanks Mike." He whispered.

The rest of the ride continued in silence and Mike was content with it he needed to sort through memories. She had come back, Jazz wouldn't be too happy. Not because she was envious, but because she always hated to see her boys hurt. Those memories cut like a knife, the screams, the images, the laughter…

Everything swirled into a sublime image that he could never decipher coherently. He remembered her, but all the time they spent melted into this image laced with beauty and horror. Mike shook his head and turned up the radio; he wouldn't go back to that, not now.

--

Mike let Danny to his room as soon as they returned to the apartment. The doctors had advised him to make sure he got plenty of rest, but that was nothing new. Mike settled on the couch, his hand alternated between a book and the remote control.

He opted for television in the end; its mindless droning always gave him less mental sovereignty. He didn't want to think right now. He didn't want to worry about Danny's question, and he most certainly didn't want to recall her. He sighed as he scanned through the channel cursing the clichéd observation of the lack of entertainment with the expansive amount of channels.

He halted, finally, on a documentary covering music from the sixties to the seventies; it appeared interesting enough. He drifted in and out of the three hour coverage his mind in a haze, his eyelids repeatedly falling only to snap open a few seconds later. The images were blaring in the darkening apartment, he wondered the time, it was probably around six or seven. He realized he wasn't hungry in the slightest but he yearned for Jazz to return home.

The sound of faint footsteps somehow reached him at a higher level then the Beatles song they were playing over the images. Mike sat upright on the couch and glanced behind him to see Danny standing impassively just staring at nothing in particular, just a hollow ghost of his former self.

"Danny?" Mike called groggily. "Danny-boy what are you doing?"

The dull blue eyes seemed to snap back into reality and suddenly the unemotional trance turned to tears. The empty blue somehow seemed energized and tinted an eerie green; it must've been the light. "Mike…" He whimpered.

Mike was on his feet immediately and he speed walked over to the boy and grabbed his shoulders. "Danny, what's wrong?" He searched the boy's face desperately. "Talk to me Danny, tell me what's wrong."

"I…I can't." He choked out through as he began to border on hysterics.

"Can't what Danny, can't what?" He inquired frantically as he had never seen Danny like this before, never had he seen the boy with such raw emotion.

"I can't do this…Mike, help me…I don't…I can't." He sobbed as his knees buckled and he fell to the floor. Something fell from his limp hands and Mike kneeled in front of him and picked it up.

It glinted in the stale light emitted from the TV; the sickly steel taunted him. It was a razor, Mike wasn't sure where he had gotten it, but it was in Danny's possession. He was relieved to see that it was clean, but worried by its presence.

"Danny come here," he helped the boy to his feet and sat him on the couch. "Now don't you cry, talk to me."

"I don't know what to say." He cried and buried his face in his knees.

Mike rubbed his back gently and made soft hushing noises. "It's alright, the only thing you have to tell me is the truth. You can trust me."

"I don't want to do this anymore Mike, I'm tired of being sick, I'm so tired. I hurt so much."

"…Danny you-"

"Please don't say it, don't say I have my whole life ahead of me…Don't say it. That's all bad news because I'd really rather die. It doesn't help. I can't face another day."

Mike stroked his hair gently, yes he saw every bit of himself in the boy at this moment, and it was so strikingly similar that he was at a loss for words. What would she say at this moment? He wished he knew what the right words would be now.

Mike pulled the razor out and twisted it between his fingers; Danny raised his head and looked at it regrettably. "Don't worry…" He muttered and watched the metal twist in out of the calloused fingers. "I don't have the nerve." He choked out a single laugh.

"But you've contemplated it." He stated softly. "You're not in trouble if that's what you think."

Mike stared into the blue-green eyes, forcing an unbreakable contact. "Here's a problem you won't escape, your identity has been changed." Danny looked at him with a glint of hope. "You're smart enough to know when you need to ask for help, that's the difference between you and me."

"I thought you-"

"I never asked for help and if she hadn't offered I doubt you and I would have ever crossed paths." He sighed in a distraught matter. "People are so fragile; I can't imagine what it must be like. And even though I watched my mother live with an oxygen tank my entire teenage life, I still can't fathom what it's like to be that way everyday."

"If I can't be normal why bother being at all?" Danny asked as he inched closer to Mike on the couch, begging inwardly for human contact.

Mike set the razor on the coffee table; it needed to be forgotten now, and disposed of later. "You make a valid point, but Danny who among us is normal? Am I, is Jazz?"

Danny shook his head. "No, but you aren't sick, afflicted with something that's probably going to end me despite the endless and painful tests I'm subjected to day in and day out. They aren't curing anything, they're only discovering, and I'm the unfortunate vessel."

"If you look at it that way, it's a pretty bleak future for you."

Danny nodded. "It is. Where am I going Mike? When I think of it I can only see all the things I could've been."

"Maybe you're going nowhere; maybe we're all going nowhere. Every one of us on a fast track to nothingness, where no one will know what we accomplished and what we were." Mike heaved a sigh and wrapped an arm around him. "Like I said before, your existence isn't based upon what you accomplish but who you were and what you meant to people you loved, they're the ones who'll carry your true memory on."

Danny let out a whimper and leaned his head against Mike's shoulder. "So you'll remember me when I'm gone?"

Mike grimaced, he hoped never to bury the kid, he wasn't much older but he felt as though in some respect Danny should be putting his older sister in the ground. There was something so fragile, so sacred, about youth that made it sinful to think that it may be cut short. It simply wasn't supposed to happen, ever, the young live forever. They had to.

"I don't want to be alone." Danny announced soberly.

Mike reclined and helped Danny lay next to him. "You never have to be if you don't want to be."

They boy replied with a yawn and rested his head on Mike and closed his eyes. Danny helped the strangely awkward Mike by guiding his arm around his body so that he was safe in his hold. Mike blinked in amazement at that moment as Danny settled and all he could feel was the rise and fall of the boy's breathing. Danny was alive and it might have been otherwise.

And at that moment Mike had never felt more like a brother before than he did now, despite the fact that he had multiple half-sisters. Danny was his family, Jazz was his family, and together they would find their way in this mixed up world one day at a time.

He swore it.

* * *

_Oh my god you guys are the best! I got so many reviews squeeee! Here's another chapter for my lovely readers. So...umm you guys give me such nice things and I give you this horribly depressing chapter. But the love is still there. 'Scuse me while I put some reggae on to drown out the sadness of this chapter. By the way there's method to my madness, surprisingly._


	4. Chapter 4

Jazz stumbled in as quietly as she could and she blinked surprised at the sight of her brother nestled against her boyfriend. Mike looked up with her with sleepy eyes and smiled as she gave him a strange look. She walked over to them and mouthed 'is he okay?' Mike nodded in reply.

"He's out cold, trust me." Mike whispered shifting his arm slightly which only caused the boy to twitch.

Jazz kneeled beside the couch and stared at Danny lovingly, her hands found his hair and she gently ran her fingers through it. She'd only been separated from him for a day but it had felt like an eternity. She found Mike's hand and her fingers danced over his skin lightly.

"Why are you so wonderful?" She asked in a soft sigh.

He smiled at her, his eyes reflecting the television's light, hers did the same. "It's a gift." He replied quietly and very carefully shifted his arms around so that he was cradling Danny, with a slight heave he got to his feet holding the boy. He was remarkably light for a seventeen year old boy which automatically sent off warning signals in his mind, if he didn't already know he was sick he could easily tell.

He set him in his bed carefully and watched as Jazz pulled the cover's up over the scrawny body. He let out a low groan turned over and settled down silently. Jazz's eyes met Mike's in the dark and she wearily went through the steps to set up the apnea machine.

She shook her head, her body more defined in the soft glow of the machine. "He hates it." She murmured staring down at him. "I do too."

Mike wrapped his arm around her and led her out of the room silently. She gently shut the door so that only a crack of it remained opened; just enough so they could hear if anything went wrong. She sat down on the couch and he sat beside her, they were together in mutual understanding that he would not be leaving tonight. That was nothing out of the ordinary.

"What happened tonight?" She asked finally her eyes trained onto the mindless motions of the characters on the television.

"We had a talk." Mike answered vaguely and yawned letting his arms rest on the back of the couch. "He got tired and sort of drifted off, I didn't think to wake him, I was pretty tired myself."

"Oh." She responded as she nestled up against him. "Mike…I've been thinking, we've been together for two years…and I really love having you around and hate seeing you leave, and you're practically here everyday and spend every other night here…and Luke and Katie are getting pretty serious…"

"Jazzy are you trying to ask me to move in with you?" He asked with a grin.

"Well you know, maybe you and I should get a little more serious and leave Luke and his girlfriend to themselves. Besides you'd save a bunch on gas and-"

"Sweetie," He interpolated with a smirk his finger to her lips. "You don't have to convince me; you had me at 'Mike'"

Jazz laughed, a real laugh, and he chuckled too. "So are you gonna talk to Danny about it, I don't want to upset him."

"I'll talk to him tomorrow." She kissed him. "Just think of it, it'll be-"

"Amazing."

--

"Danny? Danny?" Mike called rapping on the door, "Hey you, wake up."

Danny threw the pillow over his head and groaned. "Why?" He muttered spitefully trying desperately to find salvation underneath the sheets.

Mike frowned and threw the blankets off the boy. "Because I said so. No, but seriously you gave a visitor."

"Bullshit."

"Hey, you know how your sister feels about that kind of language. And she's not around, so get it out of your system before she comes back."

He'd grown used to Mike's presence around the house and found him rather useful. Jazz used to have him stay over when she was working anyway, this way she didn't fret half so much. Besides he and Mike had developed a very brotherly bond but they never did talk about that one night again.

He liked it better that way, he really couldn't stand the embarassament of that whole moment. But obviously Mike had found no shame in it, he'd made that clear enough. Danny found it easier just to keep it a secret between them. Infact there was a lot of things Mike knew that he kept locked away at Danny's request.

As much as Danny hated keeping secrets from Jazz he knew he couldn't tell her everything. She worried a little too much, and he hated making her so scared all the time. Mike understood that much, though he was always reluctant to keep things from her. But part of their bond was a deep level understanding, they saw eye to eye easily.

"Yes I get that joke, I got it months ago. Seriously what's with this visitor lie?" Danny asked sitting upright.

Mike shrugged. "Don't know, not a lie, some girl here for you."

Danny's brow furrowed. "A girl? Here for me?" The only vistor he ever got was his tudor, but Mr. Lancer was most certainly not a girl and only came during the weekdays.

"I know, I could hardly believe it too." He laughed lightly and nudged Danny slightly in the side. "Just kidding kiddo, but you might want to put on some clothes first; she seems like a decent young lady."

"What's the name?" Danny inquired firmly as he stumbled out of bed and threw some jeans over his boxers and reached for a clean shirt from his closet.

"Sam." Mike replied nonchalantly as he sat on Danny's bed waiting patiently. He watched in intrigue as his body tensed up. "Ringing any bells?"

Danny slumped his shoulders now fully aware of how rigid he went. "Like you wouldn't believe. Just uh, send her in or something." He murmured.

"Alright have it your way, but those clothes better stay on." The older boy stated shaking a finger at him.

"Mike!" Danny protested in aggravation and slight embarrassment. His cheeks turned a warm red at the very thought of the situation.

Mike laughed whole-heartedly. "Dude, it's my job to embarrass you, you should at least know that by now."

"Whatever just send her in, okay funny man?"

Mike shrugged and left the room and Danny standing by the window his hands buried deeply in his pockets. His eyes scanned the room looking for something he may have not wanted her to see. To be honest he didn't want her to see him and if he could disappear he would, gladly. He finally opted to quickly throw a blanket over the offending machine, God he hated that thing.

Just as he turned back to the window a slight knock reverberated on the open door. He shut his eyes focusing on good thoughts as he listened to her thin hand hit the door. A knot tightened in his throat all he had to do was remember how to breathe. That should've been simple enough.

"Hi Danny." She said ever so quietly, shyly actually. That struck him as strange, Sam was never shy she was outspoken and fierce. Never timid and most of all never shy.

"Come in Sam." He directed and heard her feet shuffle along the carpet, he stopped her. "Close the door." And it shut.

"Danny, I…"

He burrowed his hands into his pockets again. "What? What do you have to say to me?"

"I don't know." She responded her voice almost pleading. He could imagine her, twisting those pale thin hands her tiny frame silhouetted strangely in the pale gray lighting of his room.

"Then why bother at all?" He asked and slowly turned to face her, he was being a bit dramatic he'd have to say, but it was the only way he could let her know how truly disgusted he was with her.

"I just thought I'd see you." She responded.

She certainly was more beautiful then he remembered, her very thin fifteen year old frame was now more curved, not extravagantly but classically. She kept her raven black hair short, it was choppy now and it fell all around her head in a messy fashion, touched up with orange streaks. She was still into subcultures, hell she was seventeen, she was still a teen and still was able to be wild.

He observed her outfit, a tight black miniskirt equipped with chains, a simple black tank top that still showed off her middle which was much more defined. She had on torn up fishnet stockings and her usual combat boots, the bracelets were the same as well. She exchanged her purple lipstick for red, which made an odd combination with her lilac eyes.

Now there was something that did change dramatically. Her eyes were far emptier then he remembered, he distinctly recalled lively sparkling purple irises, not these jaded ones. If he calculated right, she was probably only twenty percent there.

Despite her appearances now, which were far more appealing then he could've guessed, he couldn't just forget what she had done. He wouldn't forget how they wronged him.

"Still into the eccentric dress I can see." He remarked.

She half smile at him. "Yeah well you know… That's just me."

He made a soft humming through his lips in response. "I suppose. Sam why do you think you belong here?"

"What?" She was taken aback. "Danny you're my friend and-"

"Am I?" He interrupted "Jesus Sam I haven't seen you in two years! What the hell kind of friend am I to you?" He exclaimed.

"I was wrong Danny. That was completely out of line for Tucker and me to abandon you." She responded defensively taking a step back.

"Wrong? Wrong? No Sam it wasn't just wrong, it was disgusting. God damn you were suppose to be my friend and one fucking day I wake up and you guys never come back."

Sam backed up even farther. "Danny, stop yelling, you're scaring me." She whispered her eyes reflecting an unearthly green.

Danny's face twisted slightly. Where was that glow coming from? Was it him? He looked down at his finger tips and saw a strange faint energy like spark dance from tip to tip and slowly die out. He'd seen it happen before but didn't know where it came from and how he made it.

He looked up and saw that she was, at this point, up against the wall her eyes holding terror. He dropped his stance and became less threatening flashing her an apologetic glance. He hadn't meant to lose that grip on his emotions he's attained over the years but her face alone evoked so many feelings.

"I'm sorry. I was out of line there." He sighed and went to the bed to sit. "Sometimes I lose control."

Sam gulped and took two cautious steps toward the bed and stopped. Her arms nervously folded over her chest, a habit he knew well.

"You came here for an obvious reason, that much is apparent. It wouldn't be fair of me to turn you away without first giving you a chance to explain yourself."

A sense of courage overtook her and she nimbly sat beside him on the bed, leaving a good space between them.

"You have every right to be upset with me." She began. "What I did was inexcusable, you're right, friends don't abandon friends. And had I been in your position I would've felt betrayed too."

"I was scared Danny, I was so sure you would die and it'd be my fault. So for some illogical reason I decided the only way to deal with that would be to avoid it all. Long story short, it ended up ruining me in the end…Danny I messed up, and maybe I don't deserve your forgiveness. It's been a long two years but I want to try to make things right again."

Danny bowed his head, his mind racing. Did he even want her back in his life anymore? There was a time when all he wanted was her to be there, but somewhere along the way he lost that yearning.

"I'm not sure if I want you around." He declared softly.

Sam was quiet for a few moments and he returned the silence. He just stared straight ahead avoiding the notion that she may cry. If she did, he wouldn't be able to handle it.

"I…I understand. Maybe we can talk again." She stood. "I think I've overstayed my welcome." She began to leave and he watched her, she went slowly, expecting him to stop her. Typical.

"Hey." He called and she turned slight hope written on her face. "Don't come back until you've got a god damn solution."

He saw her wince and then walk out the door shutting it as she went. He didn't feel bad at all.

--

"Hey honey this place is closing in like five minutes, do you want your check?"

"Whatever."

"Wait a second do I know you?" The waitress inquired in the shabby little café. She walked around the booth and stood in front of it to see the raven haired girl's face. She had her head down but with the sense of someone looking at her she looked up. Those violet eyes were impossible to forget.

"Sam? What are you…it's been so long…I can't believe it." Jazz stuttered. "You-you're here?"

"Didn't know you worked here, sorry." Sam sighed and shifted to leave while depositing the money she owed onto the table.

"No, no, please don't go. I want to talk to you." Jazz urged putting a hand on the pale shoulder.

"Why your brother sure as hell didn't."

"You've already spoken to Danny?" Jazz asked, surprised. Sam shrugged apathetically, still ready to leave. "Sam wait, tell me, what happened?"

* * *

_You guys fill me with squelchy happy juice, reviews do that. Umm look the plot thickens oooooh what's up with my ambigiousness? Have a happy halloween I probably won't be on tomorrow but I might post a halloween drabble either tonight or saturday....Yes._


	5. Chapter 5

Danny need to go for a walk he passed by Mike who was dosing on the couch. Both he and Jazz really hated when he left the apartment alone, in case anything happened. He growled under his breath, just in case just in case. He was so sick of that, no one else really had to worry that much.

He nimbly slipped past Mike dropping a note as he left. Even if Mike woke up and saw it he couldn't imagine him being that mad. Sometimes people just need space and just because Danny was a little different it didn't make him any less of a person.

He walked out the door amazing himself at how quiet he could be. Swiftly he walked down the dreary hallway and made his way carefully down the stairs and into the streets. Fall was coming and the breeze was much colder but the brisk air felt crisp as he breathed in it. It was a good feeling.

He continued onward draining his mind of all the problems, of the hospital visits, of Jazz's troubles, of Sam... Damn it she wouldn't go away, he was finally slightly okay with where he was and then she had to come back and ruin everything. He wondered if she knew where Tucker was, but of course Danny knew he could probably go to Tucker's house and find him there. Not that he would.

No, they left him, he woke up one day and she was the first to be gone. He remembered Tucker trying to soothe him, saying she just needed space to think. Then Tucker slowly began dropping out of his life till he was completely gone too. He wondered why they found that to be acceptable.

Had he not been worth their companionship? They left him when he needed his friends the most, left him alone to his fear of dying. He looked up and shivered it felt almost as if he were being watched but he looked about him and saw nothing but the cold November street empty and gray.

Danny hadn't realized he'd wandered so far and decided he needed to be closer to home, he knew better than to stray too far alone. Besides he was cold and his breath seemingly materialized before him as if it were palpable.

He lowered his head; he needed to shake those feelings of abandonment. Jazz said they probably wouldn't go away, not after what people had put him through. He tried not to blame them but on lesser days he found no pity for their actions.

He wasn't so damaged that he deserved that, no one deserved that. If he had never had Jazz he wasn't sure where he'd be today. Sometimes he was sure he'd be dead by now if it weren't for her love and guidance. Some people weren't half so lucky to have a sibling so dedicated and compassionate. He wished he told her more often what she meant and he wished he could make her life easier.

Suddenly he felt himself crash into something solid and he yelped in pain. "Hey watch where you're going!" The object shouted immediately registering in his mind that it was a person.

He wheezed and opened one eye suddenly breathing was far more difficult, the wind was so easily knocked out of him. He sat panting on the dirty brown carpet of the apartment's hallway, grimacing at how he would have to somehow climb the stairs.

"What a minute...are you okay? Do I know you?" It was a female he looked up and saw her dark-skinned bathed strangely in the dirty yellow lighting of the building.

She hoisted him up by his arm and held him there seeing that he was struggling. "I do know you, Danny Fenton right?"

He gasped and opened both eyes and stared at her. "Umm yeah..." He choked wanting to pull his arm away but too afraid to fall over.

"I'm so sorry; I should've watched where I was going." She said almost as if she were spelling it out for him, like he was stupid or deaf.

He didn't mean to take offence to what people said, but he sometimes forgot how inconsiderate people could be in the world outside his apartment. Maybe the girl hadn't meant to demean him in apologizing but the way she said it. It wasn't an apology it was pity.

"You think I'm handicapped don't you?" He retorted pulling away she held her hands up ready to catch him but dropped them as soon as she realized what she was doing.

She blushed and clasped her hands together nervously twitching her fingers and tightening her grip slowly. "No...no...I didn't mean. I'm sorry, it's just that I didn't think...it's not because you're-I mean..." She stuttered in exasperation. "I need to look where I'm going you know? I may have just run into you but what if it had been an old man?"

She laughed lightly trying to lighten the air. "I'm sorry Danny."

"You...you're different somehow." He stated avoiding her nervous apology. "I remember who you are now, Valerie right?" He smirked darkly. "You used to have the jock kids beat me up if I even looked at you the wrong way. So what's little Miss Princess doing in such a dank place?"

"I live here." She stammered and bent over to retrieve her bag which she had dropped in the head on collision.

"No kidding?" He quirked an eyebrow and folded his arms.

She nodded solemnly he could see she was still a little ashamed of her living arrangements. Though he could vouch for her the apartment complex wasn't exactly a haven, you wouldn't proudly tell people your address here. "Things change I guess, I had it all, a misfortunate event took place and my dad and I we lost all our money."

Danny snorted. "Poor you." He didn't always mean to be so bitter but sympathy was a hard thing for him to dispatch. Though he did have empathy and immediately felt regret as soon as she winced at his harsh response. "Forgive me if I'm a bit jaded." He murmured and she nodded.

"It's okay I've heard...things." Valerie admitted.

It was true the entire school knew something terrible happened to Danny. They knew it was his parent's fault and they knew he had been left very sick because of it. They'd all heard it, he'd almost died in an accident and it only worsened for him over their Freshman year. They all knew when he never came back Sophomore year that something hideous had happened.

Funny as she looked him over she didn't see any mutations like some kids had talked about. Of course she wasn't stupid enough to really believe he'd turned from geek to freak all because of a life-threatening accident. No, she'd felt horrible for how she treated him especially after hearing Sam scream at the other kids for talking about Danny.

In fact watching that once proud goth break down into tears while screaming had been terrifying. Sam had always been very fierce and the fact that something so terrible had taken place to destroy her like that was enough for Valerie's heart to break for the three friends.

"Of course you have, people talk, they're always talking. I wonder how much of the facts are even still in the stories." He replied his voice quiet but the humor was there. He'd certainly become far darker then she remembered him to be. In fact she was certain fourteen year old Danny Fenton had been quite the optimist.

She frowned. "There was an accident..."

"Correct. Well this has certainly been a pleasant meeting, let's be sure to do it again."

"Wait. What's the rush maybe we could catch up? I'd like to start over, maybe we can be friends?" Valerie wasn't sure what had possessed her to even ask but something about the sick teen made her want to reach out. He probably needed a friend.

Danny turned the idea over in his mind. "Well, maybe. If you want one of these days we could do something. I really don't know what though I'm usually around here. So find me one of these days, alright?"

She nodded and he turned to go. "Wait. Want me to walk you back to your apartment?" She asked noting his very weak appearance.

He let loose a laugh then gave her an accusing stare. "Please, I'm sick. Not a child."

--

"Danny we need to have a talk." Jazz announced as she opened his door not really bothering to knock. He looked up from his book with a rather bored expression.

"What more is there possibly to talk about that we haven't already discussed?" He asked staring at her as his heart faltered slightly. What if Mike had finally blown his cover and admitted told her about what he almost did one desperate night. No, he wouldn't, or so Danny hoped.

"Your friends." She answered solidly.

He gave off a bitter laugh. "I have no friends."

Jazz frowned and entered the room and sat beside her brother on his shabby twin bed. She sighed and placed a hand on his arm her skin much warmer then his always cold body. "Danny, I know it's been hard...But she came back."

He shook his head his thoughts running rampant. "It's only a matter of time before she goes again. No, I don't want to deal with that again. I can't."

Jazz took his hand and rubbed it sympathetically. "People come and go all the time, its part of life. Why deny yourself companionship just because you're afraid to get attached? There's nothing wrong with caring for someone and there's nothing wrong with being devastated at losing them." She explained softly, her tone superseding her age. Jazz had certainly matured in a few years beyond what most people ever do in their life.

"I know...but life, my life, is too short to deal with that sort of thing again." He returned quietly.

No one but Jazz knew just how horribly he was crippled by the loss of his friends. Tucker got a small insight to his devastation but never saw the full affect. They would never know that he'd wake up crying in the middle of the night or that the loneliness made him feel so empty inside that he would sometimes wonder if he were even alive anymore.

He never completely got over it. It still stole his sleep from time to time. But he was far from sad now, somehow he felt better that he had lost the feelings. Yet he was also aware that his growing detachment from the rest of humanity was unhealthy. His jaded ways were wrong and simply a responsive reflex.

"You've got to let this hatred go little brother or you'll never take a step forward." Jazz said staring out the window waiting and watching out of the corner of her eye for him to look to her. "It's hard all over the world and you'd be surprised at what people go through."

"I don't think I'd be that surprised." He responded wryly.

She hummed in response then turned her head to met eyes with him. "She was a drug addict." He cocked his head his blue irises reflected shock. "Fell into it as an escape, I never expected her to do that."

"She must've really cared to throw her life away while trying to forget me." He mused. "Wha-what did she do?"

"She didn't clarify everything; I think prescription pills were in the mess. I know there were hallucinogens and other contraband found in high schools." Jazz said grimly.

Danny was shaking now either in disgust or fear, he wasn't sure. "Are you sure?"

"She told me, she told me a lot that she probably doesn't want you to know just yet. You meant so much to her Danny and I don't think you understand that."

He pulled his hand from his sister. "How do you know?"

Jazz looked him hard in the eye. "If you really understood you wouldn't have turned her away so quickly."

The teenager just stared forward his eyes looked as though they were trained on something, but it was nothing. He didn't move he didn't speak; he wasn't sure what to say. He did care that Sam had been destroying herself, he did care that she left him too. But he just wasn't okay with the idea of getting attached to people; they always hurt him in the end.

And he wouldn't do that to himself anymore. He couldn't take it, Jazz could only understand so much. He looked at his sister cautiously and bit his lip.

"I'm not feeling well Jazz." He said quietly this immediately triggered her into a completely different mode.

Her hands found his face one felt his forward the other on his cheek he sat unstirred by her touch. "Are you okay?" He nodded with a weak smile. She slid her hands off his face and onto his shoulders. "You're not having any trouble are you?" He shook his head.

"I just...I need to lie down. Is that alright?" He asked and shifted suddenly unnerved, he was fine, just a little dizzy. He felt a headache coming on and he needed to be left alone.

She wearily got up and helped him get into bed which at first he objected to but she insisted. She was a very persistent woman so he let her do as she wanted. He kept telling her he only had a headache but Jazz wasn't completely contented with that. Perhaps he really did but risks weren't a factor in their day to day life.

Until she was sure Danny really only had a headache she left, seeing that he was still quite alive and not having any difficulties in maintaining that state. Danny rolled over under his blankets, Jazz had gone and he could finally get some sleep. So why did he feel so restless?

He turned again more unsettled then before. His whole life had finally reached a consistent state then suddenly out of the blue some violet eyed girl had to reappear and ruin everything. He really wanted to say he didn't want her company, but he would be lying. Having Sam back should've been the best prospect of his life. But it wasn't.

But he felt sicker and sicker with his decisions. She'd broken his heart but that gave him no excuse to be so cruel, she couldn't have possibly understood the weight of her actions. How could she possibly know how badly it hurt him. He rubbed his temples weakly; this was nothing to cry over not anymore. Danny wouldn't regress to that he couldn't.

Danny grunted and sat up and stared at the phone lying on his desk, her number was still in it. He let out a heavy sigh and picked it up and quickly typed the numbers in. Not that he'd forget them, like old habits embedded into him. He held his breath maybe she'd see the caller ID and ignore it or maybe she would scrabbled to answer.

If life meant anything it was about taking risks and Danny was so tired of pretending he was in control. He heard a click and his breath caught.

* * *

_Gah I'm so sorry I took a million years to update. I have good excuse, I broke my foot! Please don't break my other one for being so late. I'll try not to do it again._


	6. Chapter 6

"Sam?" Jazz was surprised to see the girl at her doorstep that Sunday morning. Since last she spoke with her it sounded as though Sam had vowed never to go see Danny again. Yet here she was a week later back where she'd been before.

"Um hi..." She seemed nervous. "Danny called me last week and I-" She paused. "I hope I'm not too late in showing up it's just that I wasn't ready and-"

"Easy there." Jazz soothed. "It's never too late for anyone here. He called you? Really?" Jazz smiled and let the girl in nearly forgetting she was making her stand at the doorway.

Sam walked in nimbly. "He's in the shower right now but we can wait. Coffee?" She spoke carelessly as if Sam had been a frequent guest in her home. Jazz always was so hospitable.

"Oh yeah, thank you." She answered as Jazz headed toward the kitchen telling the girl to make herself at home.

Sam sat at the couch in the living room and looked about the apartment; she didn't get a good look last time. It was tiny, lived in, but it felt like home despite its cramped sad state. It must've been because everyone living here loved each other, it wasn't a convention family, but the most functional one she'd come across in her life.

Sam shifted slightly, she'd meant to come here earlier in the week. In fact when Danny called she nearly hopped in her car and raced over despite the time, but she knew better then to bust in. She didn't fit in here yet not like she used to. It was so strange it was like making friends with a complete stranger it wasn't at all like reconnecting with her best and closest friend Danny.

She'd already come to terms that he had changed one visit was enough to establish that. It was finally after Danny had finished and dressed that he requested Sam to come in and Jazz to stay out. The older girl was weary of leaving the two knowing Danny didn't handle emotions well anymore.

Danny padded the bed and Sam sat beside him in silence. She heard her own breathing but he was so deathly quiet it struck her to the point where she'd be stealing glances at the boy in attempt to confirm he was still there. Once she found it comfortable to stare at the wall he let loose a sigh alerting her attention.

"What can we talk about?" He barely spoke it, that confidence he'd had before was long gone now.

Sam bit her lip and folded her hands in her lap trying to push them as far into her legs as she could. "Maybe...maybe we should just try to catch up?"

He looked at her with a sideways glance. "I think that'll take time. The way I see it we both suffered extensively and are no longer on that level of trust to disclose what we've seen."

She nodded solemnly in quiet response. He was right she wasn't ready to tell him what she'd been through. She'd managed to pour most of herself out to Jazz which had felt so right, but with him, it just wasn't like it used to be. Jazz was still what she'd always been just much more worn, but he was someone else.

Sam shook her head weakly. "How are you Danny?" She asked simply trying to start something; she'd pictured this going so much differently.

"I'm sick Sam. Just like before." He replied.

"I'm sorry." She responded meekly.

Danny looked at her this time he was certain that definite look was glinting in his otherwise nearly lifeless blue eyes. "Sam I know what we have to talk about." She looked at him slightly frightened because she was beginning to see where the conversation was headed. "The night you left...I want to know your side. I know mine, I know what I thought...what I felt. You tell me yours first and then you can know mine."

Sam gulped and looked at him her eyes swelling up in the soft light. "You don't want to know that...you must already..."

He shook his head. "No Sam, I've never heard it from you. It doesn't matter what others told me whether it was fact or fiction, what matters is what you thought, what you felt. Give me something I'm trying to bridge a gap that I never asked for."

She sighed and dropped her head. "I'm...this is really hard...I feel so ashamed. I mean I felt shame the second I made my decision, now there's something never did shake..."

--

_"They heard from Mr. Fenton for the first time in months." Tucker whispered to the short goth girl sitting beside him. "He's not coming back ever, he said at first he needed to clear his head, but now he's saying he can't look at his family or his house anymore. Mrs. Fenton still thinks he's going to come back. But Jazz is certain we'll all never see him again."_

_"What about Danny?" Sam whimpered tears hot around the corners of her already bloodshot eyes, the past nine months had been anything but smooth and the young girl had just about cried an entire ocean._

_"He doesn't know." Tucker shrugged staring out the window of the bus. "He slipped into a coma last night around midnight." He winced and held her shoulders. "Happy birthday Sam." The boy whispered softly knowing she was going to take this hard._

_In fact the pair was heading to the hospital to visit Danny who'd been very sick for the past weeks. He kept telling Sam he'd make it out in time for her fifteenth and that he'd celebrate it with her. Unfortunately that wasn't to be but he still urged them to come by so he could still be there for Sam in his own way. That hadn't bothered her at all in fact she felt ecstatic that he was so determined to help her day be better._

_But he couldn't do that now. "Christ this is the second one!" Sam erupted tears were running down her checks but she wasn't sobbing. "He can't do this to us...he...Tucker when will he get better? This is all my fault if I had just stuck to my gut feeling and told him not to do it instead of thinking about how cool it'd be...I didn't think it worked."_

_"Sam hush." Tucker said sternly as the people stared on the bus at the two teenagers, especially the girl._

_"Oh what do they know? Any of them going to visit a fifteen year old in the hospital on their birthday? I highly doubt it. I'm going to be as grief stricken as I want to be." She snarled her face set in a deep glare turning more then a few heads away._

_Sam buried her head in her knees suddenly as though the stares were starting to burn her. They felt as though they might if she let them look directly at her. She felt Tucker's hand on her back and wanted him to go away. Tucker was her dear friend but he could never comfort her like Danny could and she knew why._

_She never wished the two trade places though because she wasn't sure where she'd be if the outcome was different. Everyday she prayed that in through some magic that she and Danny would switch places and she'd lie in that hospital bed where she belonged. _

_"It isn't your fault Sam." Tucker cooed still rubbing her back. "No one blames you."_

_"I blame me." She responded in a muffled disgruntled voice. She lifted her head slowly and fell into Tucker's arms finally yielding to his commiseration. "He lied to me... He promised he'd be here...he lied."_

_"You know he'd give the world to keep that promise." He said softly meaning every word, knowing his friend would feel terrible the moment he awoke._

_--_

_Weeks had passed and Sam was getting scared, there was no change in Danny. They weren't expecting him to come to at least not any time soon. She was tearing herself apart and was finding her fidelity was trying. Sure she had strong feelings for Danny but he didn't know and probably wouldn't want to. Like he could keep a relationship going in his life, how could she even hope to get anywhere with him?_

_"Shut up already!" Sam shouted and reached for her phone she flipped it open but when Tucker's name didn't read she was shocked. They were supposed to visit Danny that night but he wasn't the one who was texting her. It was a boy she'd met near the end of freshman year, he was rather handsome, a more punk styled boy. _

_They'd begun to hang from time to time and she was finding him cooler and cooler but at this point she was pretty desperate for a new friendship. The message was a simple beckon for her to join him at a party. She did have other responsibilities but the idea sounded so nice, so free, so not depressing._

_Sam was tired of going to that dreary hospital day in and day out to stare at the practically lifeless figure of her friend. It was draining emotionally and physically, he wasn't waking or even responding. He might as well have been a corpse composed upon that bed and if all those obnoxious machines didn't say otherwise she would've believed him dead._

_It was wrong so wrong to even think of ditching Tucker and most of importantly Danny, but the enticement of fun drew her. Speaking of Drew his text was just waiting for her to respond. Sam licked her lips and gritted her teeth, she needed to let go of the past, she needed to move on. Surely Danny would want her to have fun, maybe he'd understand after all she was only human._

_She quickly typed her response, threw the phone in her purse, and headed for the door. He'd be around to pick her up in no time and she'd enjoy herself. But even the prospect of fun didn't ease the unsettled feeling in her stomach that told her she was wrong and getting herself into something bigger then herself._

_She never did notice all the missed calls from Tucker._

_--_

"This boy...all because of a boy. God he could've told me anything and I was vulnerable enough to believe him. He said he could help me feel better that I could trust him. I know I should've put you before him." She explained. "But he lured me out again and again." She cut herself off meeting with Danny's eyes.

"It was so stupid and I can't take it back. Look Danny...I was wrong, I knew it then and I still know it now. I just thought I could escape one night and soon one night turned into weeks, then months, then-"

"I know how long it's been Sam you don't have to remind me." He interrupted then took a breath. "Maybe you can't remember the events of that night fully, though something tells me you haven't completely forgotten. But...I don't understand, not completely, because I'm certain if it had been me I wouldn't have done the same thing."

Sam grimaced and swallowed hard, it felt like glass running down her throat. "That's because you're stronger then me." She whispered.

"It's not a matter of strength." He said flatly and folded his hands while leaning his elbows on his knees.

The memories always did flood her mind frame by frame. Not that she would ever let Danny know how perfectly she remembered every defining moment of the past. No he needn't know that the memories in crystal clear like a movie reel. She couldn't bear to recollect the conversations verbatim for him he didn't need to know those.

Of course Danny knew she remembered much more than she would say. But that was Sam, she hated to admit her mind had always been sharp like that, that she never forgot. Try as she might she could never forget.

She sighed trying to pretend there wasn't a tight knot in her throat. "What about you? I know I wasn't there when you woke up...I know you did when that party was started and I was...I was...too...distracted."

"It was hardly interesting; I guess I was just...sad. Dumb word right? Let's see if I remember..."

But of course Danny remembered just as clearly as Sam, but just as Sam Danny would recount what bits and pieces he wanted while leaving important details out. Call it clairvoyance but he knew there was so much more she remembered that she simply skirted over, leaving the reach details of conversations and thoughts.

All was fair and love and war anyway. Danny knew deep down he was just a hypocrite but he had to keep calling her one.

--

_Danny hated coming to, whether it was waking from a rather distinctive dream or from a comatose state. It was terrible waking meant he slept and sleeping seemed to be dissolving his certainty these days. He could hardly remember what was real and what was imagined and his last coma left him out for nearly two months making him very disorientated._

_It was dreadful. The world was hazy, breathing was labored and nearly suffocating, as he had to get used to doing it on his own. Whereas he spent a very long time never having to take a breath. It was like choking on a thick smoke instead of clean air, although the hospital was a bit stale tasting and it always felt thinner by full consciousness._

_He leaned forward weakly and gasped taking in the staleness of over-sterilized air. He felt a hand on shoulder to keep him from moving to fast and possibly hurting himself. Opening one tired eye Danny saw Tucker' dark skin against the brightness of the room. He smiled, his friends were still loyal, they wouldn't leave him when he was down._

_Danny blinked the tiredness from his eyes and finally was able to keep them open. He twitched his nose and noticed the breathing tube in it, it was always uncomfortable, but he guessed necessary. _

_"Hey man." Tucker greeted softly patting his shoulder. "Missed ya, welcome back. You feeling okay?"_

_Danny nodded his head and looked about the room and noticed it was empty, save him and Tucker. Usually if he was unconscious he woke to a nurse or his mother and sister. "Whe-" He coughed and cleared his throat before coughing again, his throat was raw and sore a tell-tale sigh of a ventilator, he'd been incubated at some point._

_Tucker squeezed his shoulder with worry, Danny waved his hand gesturing that he was alright. "Where are the girls?" He finally choked out._

_"Jazz and your mom are down in the cafeteria, they've been up, your mom for a day and Jazz for forty eight hours straight. I imagine coffee is being consumed." He explained._

_Danny nodded expecting that much, but he didn't hear another girl's name in that. "Sam?"_

_Tucker looked crestfallen making Danny cast worry into his eyes. "She's okay?" He asked a little more urgently. "I missed...her birthday?" Tucker nodded and Danny dropped his head on the pillow in frustration._

_"She's not mad at you, don't worry. She...I don't know where she is I called her and called...she was supposed to be here." Tucker hesitated then pulled out his phone. "Here let me try again, maybe she'll be excited to hear your voice. I'm sure she'll be ecstatic to know you're awake."_

_A few tries and all Tucker got was voicemail, he called her house phone and her mother told him that she had gone out for the night. The woman didn't seem too concerned as to where and for how long but she said she'd taken a message down for him. _

_"Her mom says she's not home..." Tucker announced._

_Danny looked about on the verge of tears, the sick feeling in his stomach wouldn't go away. Sam would never abandon him, so what if she was missing? He couldn't help her and it would've been all his fault if she was hurt in anyway. "Do you think she's okay?"_

_"I'm sure..."_

_--_

_"She says she's really busy, she has a lot to deal with, Danny she'll come around." Tucker urged but only received a very distraught look that he'd been contending with for weeks_

_--_

_"Sam just needs to get back on her feet. She's hit a bit of a rough patch, don't worry dude. She cares so much for you, it's not likes he's just going to avoid you the rest of her life." He honestly did try to convince Sam, everyday he talked to her, but she was never all there through any conversation and she lied. Tucker didn't tell Danny that, though he was sure the boy had some indignation._

_"No but maybe for the rest of mine." _

_Tucker hardly ever got a response from him but almost every day of every month he consoled Danny he always had to watch his best friend break down into to tears. Girls crying he could handle, but Danny Fenton was always his hero since they were kids because he was always so fearless and so strong._

_His hero was crying now._

_--_

"But grief is a normal reaction to disappointment. Yeah you let me down Sam, but I had a lot to deal with too. It was like a stab in the back but Tucker needed me to be tough so I took it all in stride. Turns out repression is really bad for the mentality." Danny looked indifferently into her eyes and she shrunk at his detachment.

Of course Sam knew such a small portion of the reality just as she had given him a small explanation. Danny was more then just sad, that word wasn't nearly big enough to even tell the whole story. He'd been depressed, he'd suffered mental breakdowns and when Tucker left he nearly lost his entire mind.

But Danny, like Sam, was an excellent liar and very good at keeping secrets and hiding his person behind a crooked smile.

* * *

_Thanks everyone for the reviews and well wishes. I imagine Sam is a little younger then the boys, not by a whole lot...but I don't know maybe I'm only speaking from that point because I'm one of the younger ones of my friends. Also... I feel as though the breakups with the flashbacks give the illusion that that is what the two are telling each other, wrong! I couldn't make it work any other way. Hope you enjoyed it regardless. _


	7. Chapter 7

Jazz had warned the girl from the start that he was very fragile and sometimes fell into theses "states". But Sam had been frequenting the house for weeks now and had yet to see for herself just what Jazz had been so wary of. So perhaps Sam was keeping Danny in good health, maybe luck had turned around for the small family. It seemed likely, he'd been doing so well since she started back here and Jazz felt a sense of ease when she left the house.

Sam sat quietly with Danny watching television with him; it was no longer awkward for her to sit in silence with him. They were starting over they had decided and so their friendship slowly patched up. It was far from perfect and there was still so much sensitive subject matter and secrets of their lives without each other, but that was all saved for another day.

Sam sat beside him on the oddly colored couch and stared apathetically at the screen usually she had him out walking in the park, but today he told her he was tired. She understood, he was sick so he had up and down days, it was normal. Jazz was out to work so Mike was around at the moment he was in his room working on his laptop. He often left the two to themselves they were old enough to be alone.

Suddenly Sam felt something grip her shoulder she jumped in shock and turned wildly to Danny. He was looking at her with this terrified expression his face had paled considerably and he grasped at her desperately.

"Danny?" She whimpered afraid of what was happening.

But he didn't respond he fell over his body twisting and heaving with constricted breath. Startled Sam stood up and instead of kneeling beside him she ran for the bedroom and knocked roughly on the door screaming for Mike. The door flew open making the girl nearly fall over at the loss of momentum. Mike already knew what was happening and he rushed into Danny's room, grabbed something from under the bed, and headed to the living room.

"Move the coffee table." He demanded and she pushed it over giving Mike space between Danny and the table.

"Should we call an ambulance?" She asked frantically and stood over the two, but Mike hushed her and began CPR rather simply. He'd done this before and it showed.

He had grabbed a mask attached to a hand pump which he placed over Danny's mouth rather then perform mouth to mouth. She watched in fear wondering how he could be so calm at a moment like this. Was Danny dying? It seemed like it was and she felt herself near tears at the thought of having to see it.

Then, just like that, Danny was breathing again and Mike silently gathered the boy in his arms and held him tight. He carefully carried him and placed the quiet boy in his bed. For a moment Mike sat beside him then hugged him tightly in silent thanks, it was a strange spectacle. Danny was so limp he seemed to drip right out of the older man's arms.

"That a boy Danny, you're alright." He whispered then turned to Sam who had stayed behind him the whole time. "It's alright this is-"

"Normal." She breathed and stared at them. "How can you be so fearless?"

"Fearless?" He nearly laughed then he smiled. "I'm petrified, but I can't let that overtake me, we can't risk that time. Hell, I can hardly stop shaking sometimes, but he needs me to be stronger then that. No, this isn't about fear, it's about control and if he has none then it's all on me."

Sam came and sat on the bed. "So now what?"

"We wait." He shrugged. "He'll wake in an hour tops; the only crucial thing is to make sure he stays stable. Otherwise we'll have to get him to a hospital." Mike explained to the girl.

"This is so weird." She whispered but he caught it.

"I know, this shouldn't be normal, not for anyone. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy..." Mike trailed off and seemed to stare past the girl he then got up and uncovered a small machine out.

Sam stared at curiously as Mike took wires and put them in places quickly and methodically and at the end of one of the wires was a clip which he attached to Danny's finger. He pressed a few buttons and it sputtered to life with number readings and a soft glow accompanied by a rhythmically bouncing wavelength.

"What is that?" Sam asked, she'd seen that thing before, when she peeked under the blanket but never asked about. Knowing well that Danny was probably ashamed of it. It wasn't that large but it wasn't easily stored under the bed without some careful consideration, it looked fragile and expensive.

"It's a pulse oximeter machine it helps us monitor his oxygenation and heartbeat." He said softly almost as though if he spoke too nonchalantly of the machine it would revolt against him.

"It's programmed to go off if his oxygen saturation falls below ninety percent and if his pulse increases or decreases so we know if anything goes wrong. If the alarm goes off then we have to get him help." Mike explained looking at the machine studying the numbers. "He should be alright today, he's at a ninety four percent."

Sam nodded weakly looking at the wavelength which seemed slow but steady. There was a slight groan and one eye opened slowly. Mike wrapped the boy in a tight hug and Danny seemed to reciprocate the action as best he could. "Go back to sleep." He said softly and laid him back down.

Once again his eyes were closed. Sam was silent as she Mike who got up and left the room. He left the door open enough so that if there were troubles they could be easily heard. "He should be fine." Mike explained as he walked into the kitchen and grabbed the tea pot. "Do you like tea?"

She nodded and he offered her a seat at the table and went to preparing the tea. Sam sat patiently waiting for anything but she couldn't think of anything to say though her mind was buzzing with questions. She watched and waited for the right opportunity or some sort of sign anything at all.

Finally he set the tea down before her it was steaming and looked and smelled homely. It was green tea she could tell from the smell of it she wrapped her hands around the cup and felt it's warmth. "You guys hug a lot." Sam blurted calmly, it had been the one thing she'd noticed between the three, it seemed unusual to her.

"Yeah, we do." He responded with a shrug. "When things are so, for lack of a better word, fragile you tend to want to give what you can."

"I still don't get it...how can hugs and expressing feelings before you sleep or leave enough to prepare you for when it all happens?" She asked skirting her finger around the teacup's edge.

He shook his head. "Simple, it won't. But I've lost someone before and I know leaving things unsaid is far worse. You can't not tell someone you love them, you can't not let them know how important they are to you. Hell this could all be nothing for me, Jazz could one day decide she doesn't want me anymore and I pack my bags and leave. Do I ever know what becomes of the boy I grew attached to?"

"We can't know what tomorrow brings; we'll always assume the days will continue as they should normally. But we have no system to go by, I could be gone, or Jazz, you, or Danny. So what will you wake up to tomorrow, maybe the normality you've accepted or the end of the world and anything in between." The older man hesitated. "No one knows what'll happen we always hope it's not our worst fears, but your worst fears can come so easily to life. I know."

Sam thought on the subject she knew in a small way what he was talking about. But she knew his insight went on another level, something deeper that only came from experiance. "So you know what it's like. What happened?" She paused and looked at him. "I'm sorry it's none of my business."

"No, no, it's alright. See I had a friend I met my freshman year of high school. She was a real pretty thing, smart too, had a lot to give. But this girl came from a bad place and it was always noticeable she had the bruises and marks of her hateful parents. Her mother was a basket case, her father an alcoholic. She was still so sweet despite what they did to her." He explained.

"I had her until I was seventeen and she pulled me out of all the darkest places of my life. She was my best friend and I loved her. You see, one night Luke and I, you've met Luke I think, well anyway we dropped her off and you could already tell her parents were in a bad way. We kept saying we'd turn around and take her home with one of us, she'd be safe but she kept insisting it was alright she could handle it. So even when she disappeared inside the house we didn't believe it." He hesitated plagued by the old memories.

"There was an awful scream, an awful sound...I hadn't moved the car from the driveway because I wanted to make sure. We got out and ran to the house because she was our girl and she was in trouble, she needed us. When we got inside her father was still yelling in a doorway and there were broken bottles on the floor, her mother, we later found out had taken pills and had slept through it all. We already knew what had happened but it didn't stop us."

"Luke took care of the man, you see he's trained in Kendo, so he was able to fight he had to keep him away so I could get to her. The drunken bastard had thrown her down the stairs and when I got to the bottom...she was still alive. I don't know how, but I couldn't move her, she wasn't awake and there was blood...She didn't make the trip in the ambulance and I wasn't with her when she died. Those terrible people went to jail and justice was served I guess, but I never should've let her go."

He shifted uncomfortably. "There was nothing I could've done, but because I never told her what she meant to me it'll never go away. Regret is a very devouring thing. I'm okay with it now but a few years ago you couldn't get me to acknowledge it let alone talk about it. Jazz and I, we understand how easy it is to die, so we value Danny all the much more, hugs included."

Sam nodded. "That's horrible what happened to your friend. It all makes sense you know, I wish I could be so expressive, but I guess that's where we differ." She laughed nervously and her eyes fell to the table.

"It takes some time, but if you really care for Danny or for anyone, you'll learn."

--

Time always seemed to be passing but Sam was over as she was every day, with this strange chipper manner she'd acquired from spending these new days with Danny. She seemed certainly more lively then she had when she first returned to him and had long since dropped the entire negativity spiel she'd had going as a fourteen year old.

She smiled as Jazz let her in explaining she'd picked up a short shift at work since Sam was going to take Danny for the day. Sam quickly went to his room to wait for him to finish getting ready. She set down her things and sat on his bed as Jazz headed in to give Sam some things.

"Now I know you've taken Danny out with before and I do trust you since we've taught you the basics. Cell phone charged?" Sam nodded. "Good, here's the travel first aid kit, he should be fine but you know...keep the mask with you at all times you can never be too cautious with Danny."

Sam nodded attentively, every time she ever took Danny outside without Jazz or Mike in close proximity she got the same speech from the redhead. She never complained or even rolled an eye because she understood the seriousness of the situation that could happen. She understood that Jazz loved her little brother dearly and would do anything to make sure he was okay and well taken care of.

"God I must be boring you, I know you've heard this, but well you know..." Jazz laughed as Danny entered the room.

"Clean and groomed, couldn't you do this more often?" Sam joked looking at him.

He shrugged. "I could but that requires actual effort." Danny remarked casually as he walked past the girls and grabbed his coat from the closet. "Ready?"

"Yes." Sam responded and got up and walked toward the hallway giving Jazz some time to say her good byes which always consisted of a hug and a kiss and a 'you know I love you'. It was a bittersweet thing that Jazz never let her brother out of her sight without letting him know how she cared.

Sam waited at the front door when Danny began walking toward her she realized she was missing something important. Something crucial to her getting around, like her keys.

"Oh wait Danny could you grab my purse for me?" Sam asked.

Danny shrugged and headed back into his door and saw the small black bag on his bed. He grabbed it quickly, hardly thinking, and not noticing it was open. Suddenly all her belongings contained within tumbled out onto the floor. The keys clanged, the miscellaneous stuff such as make-up and other plastic belongings clattered against the floor.

"Ah, damn it." Danny sighed and bent over to retrieve the fallen objects. Sam wouldn't be too happy if he gave her the purse almost completely empty.

He picked the things up not really caring what they were till his hand fell on something very familiar to his touch that was just under the bed. He grasped it tightly and slowly brought it out afraid that it was something of his that he had lost and consequentially hurt himself over. It was a pill bottle and it was pretty full just as he had expected.

When reading the label he saw this wasn't his or anyone's he knew of. Her name wasn't even on it but it had to have come from her purse. They were painkillers, not her prescribed painkillers, but they belonged to her. Danny sighed impatiently; she'd lied to his sister saying she was done with these things.

In lying to Jazz she'd lied to him but instead of confronting her he threw them into his side-drawer, if in fact she was still taking them then he'd know because she'd look for them. If not then she'd let go of the fact that they were lost, this was the fairest thing he knew he could do.

"Danny?" Sam said suddenly appearing at the door. "Do you need some help?"

He shook his head and stuffed the remainder into her purse. "No I only dropped a few things, I put it all back though." He handed her the bag and she took it gratefully not even bothering to affirm that he was telling the truth.

He smiled at her in attempt to conceal his suspicions and doubt as she led him toward the door. For now he'd promised to run errands with her, since she wanted to get him out again now that he was feeling better. He smiled ironically at her back, feeling better, he never felt any better just some days were worse then others.

Danny found something about the entirety of this new situation hilarious. Suddenly the hardly hidden pills sitting in his drawer seemed to give him a new turn of fate. He wasn't sure what would come of it all, but he felt as sense of control was now his own. He wanted to laugh but he knew he was only choking on reality.

* * *

_Sorry guys I've been busy I'm leaving for Europe tomorrow and Xmas this year was stressful and tight but I managed. I'll be gone for ten days I'm hoping afterward I'll actually get the ball rolling. Hope everyone had a happy holiday and that everyone's new year is as bright and shiney as it ought to be. Au Revoir._


	8. Chapter 8

Danny lied in bed thinking contemplatively, he'd been this way for a while, and Jazz simply called it another one of those "funks." She understood that anyone who had to face their mortality daily would become depressed or moody but he didn't think it was that anymore. Sure his mind had been a complete and utter necropolis but it wasn't just because he had to face his mortality but because everything hurt.

It hurt to be alive and he wanted desperately for that to be an exaggeration. People didn't tend to feel themselves alive, it's always a sensation that is so natural that it's like it isn't even there, but for Danny every breath every beat of his heart was noticeable and it was painful. He could liken it to little pins and needles in every muscle in his body.

Danny turned over it had been like this for a few weeks now and he hadn't told anyone. That was a stupid move, he knew better than to ever deny any symptom he experienced, he knew he was supposed to tell Jazz who would in turn tell a doctor who would poke and prod him for weeks till they could contest that the ailment wasn't fatal.

Fatal, that word meant nothing to him; he'd visited the brink of death time and time again and had been pulled from it just as often. The boy shut his eyes and held his breath he wanted something more for himself but couldn't seem to find it anywhere or even begin to fathom what he could possibly accomplish. Danny wasn't sure what to do with himself half the time his days only seemed to exist in meaningless days.

If he was doing alright Mr. Lancer would come by and give him lessons for a few hours on school days then he could do what he pleased for the rest of the day which never amounted to much. Maybe he could go for a walk but never very far or alone, he could draw and paint but even his own creations drove him insane. Sam came by mostly but they never could do what they used to. And still throughout all these activities there was always the worry that he might have an "episode."

Danny perked up having his thoughts disturbed abruptly. He could still hear those horrible whisperings; they were supposed to be bad dreams. Sometimes they raised the volume to screams but he never knew who they were. It had to be the other people in the apartment building but he knew it was a lie. The sounds were sobering but the visions were hallucinatory. Mostly Danny was unsure of his sanity perhaps he was deteriorating in ways he'd never imagined.

The blue eyes looked to the ceiling and saw no comfort some days in his madness he wished he believed in God. He couldn't bring himself to hold onto that belief because he felt betrayed by the so-called deity that people always spoke of. If there was a higher power it had abandoned him or was playing some sick joke. No Danny couldn't believe there was all powerful being looking down on such a pathetic wretch of its own design.

There was a constant war raging in the teenager's mind. What was right was wrong and vice versa and nothing he could ever conjure up as an explanation ever made sense the next hour. Sometimes, he knew this well, what was right for one was wrong for mind skirted around the bend in the endless noise of his internal war.

If only he could make it all stop, make the sounds stop, the creatures that haunted his nights just disappear. If only he could leave and not ever worry about where he was and who he was with. He would give anything to shed the hospitals, the fears, and the manifest demons of his mind.

"What's the point?" Danny asked allowed and turned his head to stare at one of his own haunting paintings he had lying in the corner, it's screaming eyes looked blankly at him, if only it knew.

Danny sat upright; he knew what he wanted for himself now. He knew what he had to do, what he needed to do to find some sort of closure. He knew what was right and what was wrong and he knew that what was right for some was wrong for one. He looked at the clock Sam would be here soon, Jazz was in the shower, and Mike would be on his way home from work.

He needed to be quiet, he needed to be quick, and he could not hesitate not even for a second. It was what he wanted, what he always needed, it was something no one wanted him to have. There was no time for explanations and no more time to mull it over; he'd had years to do that.

Now or never he decided, now or never.

--------

Sam came over like always Mike let her in as she arrived at the same time he did. He talked happily with her about how he was excited to get to go to dinner with Jazz tonight, they hadn't been out together in weeks and he thanked Sam another time for giving them a chance to leave. The girl didn't think anything of it she loved those two very much they seemed to be like a family she never could find, so doing a favor for them felt natural.

Jazz greeted her as she was still getting ready to go out, Sam sat on her bed and talked as Jazz applied make-up. "Danny is sleeping; at least he was when I was showering. He's been a little moody lately, though you already knew that. Try to cheer him up if you can." She said then paused to put some red lipstick on a wonderful compliment to her flaming hair.

"God Jazz you're so gorgeous." Sam blurted out staring at the mirror image of the older girl.

Jazz blushed slightly. "I'm just a girl." She said meekly with a shrug of her shoulders. She smiled as another figure came into the bedroom.

"Hey beautiful are you tired? 'Cause you've been running through my mind all day." He looked at her with a large grin.

"You're such a flirt, get out of here." She teased.

Sam grinned at the two. "Well, I'm gonna go see if I can wake Danny so you can both say goodnight then whisk away to your romantic evening." She stated dramatically and stood from the bed.

Jazz beamed and didn't seem to think about the words that began forming on her lips. "I'm so happy you came you're really helping this family out."

A sense of validation provided a sincere smile from the girl she said nothing and simply exited the room. She admired Jazz and Mike's relationship and wanted someday to emulate it, if she ever found someone she wanted to be that happy. She walked the short distance to Danny's room but already as she pushed the door open she felt something was wrong.

She nearly flew to his bed to get a better view of the sickly looking sight. At first she almost believed that he had fallen into an episode but it only took her a few seconds to realize that wasn't the problem at all. His body looked rigid almost frozen she touched his arm slightly and barely whispered his name. In response his body convulsed his eyes had rolled into the back of his head and Sam screamed in horror.

"Jazz!" She shrieked. "Get in here, Jazz! Mike! Jazz please!"

"Shit what the hell is happening?" Sam cried as Jazz charged into the room and saw her brother's figure seizing violently. A seizure wasn't something Danny ever had she shouted out the door for Mike to call for an ambulance and she received no protest. If she ever asked for paramedics there was no question, there was no investigation, it was simply done right away.

She heard a crack and saw the bottle lying on the ground splintered now from her weight. Jazz picked it up and looked at Sam with a faint glare. "Pain killers? These yours?" She questioned.

"Yeah…" Sam replied sheepishly. "I wasn't using them…I haven't since we started talking."

"Shut up. How many were there?" Jazz was hostile; her brother may have been dying. "How many damn it!" This was no time for Sam to be shy.

"Umm…umm…ten or eleven, at least eleven left if I can remember." She responded quickly.

Jazz tipped it upside down. "Well it's fucking empty."

"What?! That's crazy! That's...that's…"

"Suicide?" The red head interpolated.

"Oh."

Mike appeared at the door. "The ambulance is on the way." He came to Jazz's side and she thrust the pill bottle into his hand.

"He took eleven." She announced and they watched helplessly as Danny seized knowing better then to touch him, knowing that he was dying as they just stood there.

Finally the ambulance came and hauled Danny off Jazz in tow, telling them to meet her at the hospital. She didn't have time to say anything else but 'meet you there.' So Mike and Sam stood awkwardly staring at each other.

"Oh God…this is all my fault. Those were my pills; he wouldn't have had anything if I wasn't around. Oh my God…Danny."

"Snap out of Sam…if there's any one to blame it's me. I mean Christ I've seen that kid in a suicidal fit and I kept it between us. I should've told Jazz maybe we could've gotten help. No, we still can, he'll be alright. Come on Sam we need to be strong if not for Danny for Jazz."

--------------

"Damn it Danny why would you do this to me?" Jazz seethed under her breath as she watched the sway of his limp body in the ambulance. He needed his stomach pumped they'd said, he was in very bad shape; his body was shutting down…She shook her head and the stray tears she couldn't hold onto sparkled around her. She felt sick she didn't want to look at him anymore; she didn't want to think about it anymore.

She approached Mike and Sam in the waiting room her voice gone her eyes filled with rage.

"What? What's going on?" Mike trembled taking her in his arms. "He's…he's…"

"Hanging in there…they say he doesn't have a good chance though…we might lose him."

"We won't. He's tough."

Sam listened in and began sobbing. "This is my fault." She wailed and buried her head in her hands.

Jazz pulled away and sighed whilst shaking her head. "Comfort her would you? I…I can't deal with this right now but she needs some support."

Mike looked at her weakly. "Are you gonna be okay?" He asked taking her shoulders.

She broke away. "Yeah, I'm just really pissed right now; I need to take a walk."

He nodded slightly confused but let her go. He sat beside Sam and wrapped her in a hug trying to soothe the young girl. He rocked her back and forth feeling like she was a terrified little sister and hushed her.

"Now now Sammy, it's alright. This isn't your fault, this isn't our fault. Our boy's gonna hold on for us, you know he will."

It was a lie he didn't think that at all, he didn't believe that Danny would fight this, afterall the boy's intent had been to leave them. Why now, now that he had been caught would he righteously and valiantly fight for his life? Whether he had been lying in his bed or in a hospital bed nothing had changed, at least not yet.

He sought hope, he wanted so bad to believe this was all a horrible mistake. But all he could seem to do was spew lies out for the girls because he knew what a suicidal person thought and he knew that both the girls couldn't take that reality. But Mike knew exactly where Danny stood.

A good five minutes had passed until Sam had gotten a grip. She sat upright and wiped her eyes on her sleeve; she sniffed then gave him a wayward smile. "I'm-I'm sorry, I kinda lost it there. I'm okay now. Sorry."

"It's alright I'm scared too…but we've got to be strong for Danny and for Jazz."

Sam sniffed and looked steadfastly at him. "She's not herself, is she?" He shook his head. "God everything is so fucked right now."

--

Jazz paced outside the hospital more angry then she'd ever been. What was he thinking did he really think she was just going to let him go? For what? How could he be so selfish? She loved him, and he was going to take himself away from her.

"Jazz? Jazz is that you?"

She turned at the voice and smiled slightly. "Lucas…" She sighed and ran to him his arms enveloped her. "Mike must've called."

"Yeah. What's with our boy, is he okay?" He pulled his unruly black hair from his dark brown eyes and looked at his friend with concern, completely out of character for the usually fun-loving guy.

"I don't know anymore. He was alive last I saw him…Jesus Luke he…suicide?" She paused and looked to her friend for something to say. "Do you have a cigarette?"

"Jazz you don't usually smoke." He stated looking at her baffled.

"Heh, I know hell of a thing that. But…right now I just need something to calm my nerves. Please?"

He sighed but yielded to her desires and withdrew his pack of vanilla cloves and he took two, one for him and one for her. The two lit up the cigarettes and stood in the cold staring at the parking lot. Cars drove in and cars drove out, an ambulance shrieked out of the lot onto it's next save. Softly a few faint snowflakes blustered about in the wind.

Jazz blew a puff smoke out with an exasperated sigh. "If he dies tonight…God I'll be so lost."

Luke nodded unsure of what to add, he knew Danny, but Danny wasn't his brother he couldn't begin to understand what she was feeling. He was distraught over the horrible state everyone was in right now, especially the kid. Jazz felt Luke's arm around her shoulder but she was lost her mind was connecting the past to the present.

She was staring out over the parking lot but she wasn't really looking she was lost, sometime else.

--

_"Dad? Are you...are you drinking?" Jazz asked nervously as she walked into the darkened kitchen and there her father sat in a dim light with papers of all kinds sprawled out on the kitchen table. He took a swig from the bottle then looked at her through glassy eyes, he'd been crying. "Dad you can't be drinking."_

_"Your brother's dead Jasmine." He announced in a dark voice staring straight through her._

_Jazz backed up ands hook her head. "No...no, I just saw him...he's not. When did you get the call? Does mom know?"_

_"No call, he's still at the hospital with your mother, here's there but he's dead. Machines say he's still breathing, but its an illusion Jasmine, your brother is dead."_

_"It's only a coma...he'll come out of it soon. It's not death, Danny's young he has a chance, don't ever talk like that." _

_Jazz scolded her father as if it were natural but her entire mind had just spun out of control in a matter of seconds because he had told her Danny was dead. That was something she feared everyday and would never take lightly. If anyone said Danny was dead she'd have to accept it as truth until she saw otherwise._

_"Come sit here Jazzy, I'll explain." She came beside him and stared at the papers he had laid out. "Danny's not physically dead but he's terminal, want to know how I know this?" He paused waiting for her response, she was silent. "Ectoplasm Jazz, ectoplasm, he's infected with it. It's tainted his body and it's poisoning it."_

_"So what if he does come out of that coma the ectoplasm is still there, he was exposed to too much, it's eating at him. You know about ectoplasm don't you? It's what ghosts manifest themselves out of."_

_"What are you talking about?" Jazz asked harshly. "That makes no sense."_

_"The ghost zone Jazz, the ghost zone." He said loudly. "Danny opened up the portal he was exposed to ectoplasm. In theory the ghost zone is completely made up of ectoplasm, a very real substance but it's more of an unworldly material, we theorized that the human spirit isn't tangible but can imprint itself on a certain substance like ectoplasm. It allows the unrestful "soul" to continue an existence in this world instead of going wherever the dead go. It isn't meant for the living, the organic composition of the body can't handle ectoplasm in the system, it eats at it dissolves it."_

_Jazz blinked at the papers none of this was supposed to make sense let alone be a valid explanation. Ghosts weren't real, ectoplasm wasn't real, but if that was true then her little brother would've only been shocked by the electricity not afflicted with a terrible illness. "You're saying that...this "substance" is destroying Danny from the inside."_

_"Like a cancer, it'll weaken him, feed off of him and isn't curable. We can't remove it from his system no one can, unless his body finds some way to regulate and use the ectoplasm it'll continue to rage against his immune system and vital organs till there's nothing left to sustain his life. Ectoplasm can't be in an organic life form, it kills, it's like filling a live person with embalming fluid."_

_"But..."_

_"Your mother knows it too, she sits there and holds his hand and tells him to be strong and fight, but she knows he's going to die. She knows we can't save him no matter how many expensive hospital trips we take. Heh. I spent my entire life devoted to studying ghosts, then I had kids and I never let the two interfere with each other. One could never impede upon the other because both were so important to me, now I have to choose between the two."_

_The young woman could hear the tone in his voice and see the glint in his eye. "It shouldn't even be a choice." She said firmly with a vicious glare. "How can science compare to your children?"_

_"Children? I've only got a daughter now and she's old enough to care for herself."_

_Jazz stood up and slammed her fists on the table. "Danny's got a chance, you'll see, mom's not holding his hand to give him false hope she believes it too. Nothing is set in stone, you'll see Danny will live a long life he'll beat this. Don't you dare give up on him while he still has breath to breathe, I know I won't."_

_"It's a poison Jazz. A poison."_

_--_

"Come on Jazz, we better get back inside before people start to worry." Lucas said softly touching her arm.

She snapped out of her trance and flicked her cigarette butt away. She felt disorientated and terrified, somehow her past wouldn't leave her. "Yeah...sure." She agreed.

* * *

_Sorry guys I'd update more if I wasn't always so busy. I try my best so forgive me and take what you can get out of me._


	9. Chapter 9

Jasmine shuffled about the apartment collecting all the things she needed. She was visibly flustered and trying her hardest to ignore the pair of particularly disappointed brown eyes watching her every move. Every so often she'd let loose an annoyed sight to try and illustrate her point. She was a very stressed and busy woman and didn't have time for arguments especially with someone who was supposed to be one her side.

It was settled or at least she said it was, not that her very adamant boyfriend was going to let it just sit. No, he was going to keep bothering her until she changed her mind, but sometimes she was more Fenton then she liked to admit. Still, stubbornness aside, she couldn't understand why he was so determined to have this fight with her; usually he hated fighting her or anyone for that matter.

"Jazz you have to come today." Mike said firmly now tired of pleading with the unyielding woman.

She crinkled her nose and gave him an icy stare but the man didn't shrink at the look. He was done trying to reason with his usually logical girlfriend. "I have work today." She responded coldly. "I don't have the time."

Mike tensed, it was the same answer, it had been three days since Danny had been admitted for his attempted suicide and three days since Jazz had stepped foot into that hospital. "You don't have work for another two hours, you have time." He said through clenched teeth. "Look I know you're all pissed off about this but-"

"But nothing!" Jazz interrupted angrily this was the last straw and she was going to put an end to this. "I can't go see him; I can't look at him it makes me sick. I've sacrificed everything for him and he thanks me by trying to kill himself. How can I visit him?" She paused. "I hate him."

"Jasmine you don't mean that." Mike responded in shock and disgust.

"I do, I hate him for doing this to me, and I hate him!" She screeched in fury and frustrated tears sparkled in her eyes. "I don't want to see him, I won't. And _you_ aren't going to persuade me differently, so just give up."

He shook his head in disgust and shame he could sympathize with her outrage but he couldn't with the hatred. No matter what Danny did it should never earn her hate, he was her brother, they were a family and despite his actions Danny always loved Jazz. "Jazz I'm going to visit Danny because now more than ever he needs our support. Think about what you said because nothing in this world is worth losing the people you love."

"And nothing is worth getting upset about." She finished for him in a dry exhausted voice. "Just go, I'm not coming back here tonight Mike I'm going to Luke's place."

"I know." He replied quietly in a detached voice. "Well I have to get Sam, she's waiting. Later Jazz, I love you."

The redheaded woman didn't respond and he walked out the door.

--

Mike sat quietly reading a book while Sam busied herself with the random puzzles in the newspaper and occasionally talking to Danny. When that wasn't enough for the girl she'd get up pace or stare out the window, sometimes she'd leave and come back with a coffee or whatever she decided to pick up. Today was day three and he already knew her patience was a fragile and fleeting thing.

Once again she got up and paced glancing out the window and making muffled groans. Finally she'd had enough and she let out an exasperated moan.

"Something troubling you?" Mike asked knowing that was exactly what she wanted he didn't even have to look up from the page.

She turned and looked to him her violet eyes searching him for answers. "What're we doing?" She demanded this caught his attention and he abandoned the sentence he'd been in the middle of.

"This is exactly what I ran from, from this." She gestured toward the deathly still boy lying the hospital bed still completely unresponsive to people.

"Well he's not as hopeless as you think; he fought the tube, so he's on a good track." Mike said calmly.

"I know." Sam detracted. "But still, look at him; he doesn't even know we're here. It's like it doesn't matter."

"You're scared." Mike said quietly shutting his book and gazing at the girl with tired eyes.

She stopped her frantic shifting and looked away. "Terrified. I never wanted this...for him. It's why I ran in the first place I never wanted to see him live long enough to destroy himself. I always knew he would, you know? Just the way he talked after the accident, he wasn't the Danny I knew and now he's even further from the boy I remembered." She sighed defeated.

Mike got up and walked over to Sam who seemed completely uncomfortable in her position. He led her over to a chair and sat her down his hand resting gently on her shoulder. "The only thing constant is a change; people will never be what they used to be because the world is always shifting. It's unfortunate that it's turned so horribly in Danny's favor and even more so that we're all caught up in it. But this is life now, you are fortunate enough to not be obligated to subject yourself to this mess."

Sam looked at him and pursed her lips. "But...you don't have to either."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I never said I had to be, I chose this when I chose Jazz and I'm choosing to stay here everyday. Choice is just one of those fun little perks that you get from life. You're a smart girl Sam so I know you're capable of making your own decisions."

Sam dropped her head into her hands. "I've made so many bad choices..." She whimpered and shook her head. "God...it all started with Danny."

Mike cocked his head, he knew some of her story but he never did ask for details. He knew that once she, Danny, and a boy named Tucker were very good friends and that after the lab accident the friendship fell into ruin. He knew she looked different once, healthy and vibrant, and from what he'd heard from Danny she used to be a lot more assertive and lively than this girl sitting with him now.

He also knew she found troubles after breaking it off with the boys. Supposedly the once proud girl went on a self-destruction binge and found lowly things to occupy her time. Mike was no fool and he too had been on a binge like in his life and he knew what it consisted of.

"Bet you did some pretty revolting acts huh?" She looked at him through cautious violet eyes. "Look kid you can't really deny it, you used, I used. People just do it, for different reasons and sensations, and it happens all the time."

"You?" She asked and he nodded. "What is this sharing time?"

He gave her a chuckle. "I bet you used to be fiery as hell, you know you can abandon that self-pity and build up some self-esteem."

She gave him a quick glare and bit her lip. "You say that like it's easy. Yet I hear you preach a lot about your sad days." She quipped back not even realizing that this was all a planned fight that was orchestrated by the older boy to get Sam on a more comfortable level. She was about to say more to the older boy but was interrupted by the sound of someone groaning and moving.

Since Danny's bed was the only one filled in the two bed room they both looked quickly in his direction. Mike stood closer and Sam perched herself in the seat so she was leaning close but had some distance. Mike put an encouraging hand on the shifting boy and immediately received an action. Danny's eyes shot open and looked directly to the source of human contact.

Mike made an audible gasp and stepped back in shock. "D-Danny?"

The boy looked at the two gaping people in confusion and fear. He hadn't expected to ever wake up again and especially hadn't expected to have visitors even if he did end up in a hospital. What was really getting to him was the way they were looking at him, like they'd just seen a ghost.

Have badly could he possibly look? Waking up in a hospital is bad enough but it's even worse when people who know you stare at you like you've been horribly disfigured. He looked back and forth between them demanding answers, his mind was a haze but the fear was sobering him up pretty quickly.

"Your...your eyes." Sam stuttered. "They're green."

--

"Jazz you're being ridiculous." Luke announced as he finally set down the controller, having successfully beaten his girlfriend Katie and Jazz in another round of Super Smash Brothers. The old Nintendo was always used lovingly by the man who was probably more of a kid then his friends would like to admit.

"Ridiculous? It's not my fault I suck at this game." She responded fiddling with the controller. "Besides we're in our twenties, video games aren't really a major part of life." She continued averting her eyes from the people in the room, these were her friends but she still felt so out of place in the world.

Katie looked to her boyfriend warily then got up quietly and left the room knowing that he was about to have a serious talk. Lucas reclined in his seat and put his feet up on the coffee table. "You're trying to avoid your problems. Mike's mad at you isn't he?"

"Who cares what he thinks, he doesn't understand. I'm not avoiding my problems and I'm too angry to visit my brother, he betrayed me." She explained leaning forward letting her hands dangle out of her lap. "Is it so wrong for me to feel something other than unconditional love and concern?"

"Never said you couldn't feel what you wanted." Luke replied coolly, it was always like him to be laid back.

Between Mike and Luke there was a good balance of neurotic and relaxed arguably making them a good pair in a stable friendship that withstood some trying times for a long time. There was a time they had a third friend that was perfectly in-between their personalities making all three the dream-team of friendships.

"Beside Mike has no right to be angry with me about this." Jazz added feeling a new sense of self-righteousness overwhelm her.

Mike was her serious boyfriend and she loved him but he couldn't relate to her, as much as he took on all the aspects of caring for Danny, he was still not his brother. He could never truly be Danny's brother and would never have that same kindred blood and responsibility regardless of what the future brought.

Luke let loose a small laugh and brushed his dark hair from his eyes. "Yes he does, he has every right to take offense to your anger." He said simply and received a blank stare. "You really don't know do you?"

Jazz shrugged. "I'm not sure what you're trying to imply. If it's anything about that girl incident from back in your youth all I know is he got really depressed, had trouble and still struggles with it sometimes even now."

Luke folded his hands and looked at her. "He struggles so much because he nearly killed himself over it." He said his voice flat and unwavering he had a strangely mellow composure for a topic so grim and shocking.

Jazz gasped and shook her head. "I didn't know that he would." She whispered.

"The kid reminds Mike of himself and he goes to sit at his side every day because he knows just how he feels. He's been there, he knows what it is, what it's like."

"What did he do? I'm sorry I shouldn't ask that but I have to know, if you don't mind. I'm not trying to upset you." Jazz sputtered out her mind not letting the subject die.

"Those were dark days, you don't ever forget what it was like, and I'll never be able to forget it." Luke sighed and dropped his head gathering himself.

"It doesn't feel like it was very long ago and if you look at the time it really wasn't. We lost our friend for no reason and we all loved her. Mike just loves deeply so losing her was the last thing he could take; I saw this coming in some respect. She held him together, what was he going to do without her? I can admit that I wasn't the most emotionally supportive friend in the world, but that never meant I didn't care about any of them."

He paused, his brown eyes staring deep into Jazz's, she already knew the story of their friend, the girl whose name they never mentioned and probably never would again. That girl had always been so intriguing to Jazz the way the boys spoke of her it was if she were a seraph. She knew this wasn't the case but she wished she could've met the girl maybe just once, she didn't even feel jealous that Mike had loved her so much.

"It went too far Jazz, he was in too deep and he couldn't pull himself out of it enough to save himself. I just remember that he went into a spiral all he did was drink when he got the chance and would take anything to keep himself incoherent. When he was cohesive he was a wreck and couldn't be consoled. One night he decided he was done and wanted to jump from a bridge in the winter. I was lucky enough to follow him, I caught him and all I could do was tackle him and scream at him while he was in hysterics." Luke paused ran a hand through his hair.

"I wasn't gonna let him leave, maybe I'm not good with talking, but he knew then I would not let him kill himself. It was never an option."

"My God..." Jazz said quietly. "He never told me that."

"He's embarrassed about it." Katie announced as she reentered the room with three cups of tea. She gingerly handed them out. "He probably didn't want you to know because he didn't want you to think that was who he was. He's not a suicidal maniac, he was just lost."

The blonde girl sat beside Jazz and put a hand over hers. "We all get lost sometimes and all of us have troubles, but what defines you is how you come out of them in the end. Tell me, do you think you're going to come out bettered by handling this situation the way you are."

Jazz shrugged and avoided Katie's blue eyed stare, it was the same color as Danny's, right down to the exact shades. "I-I'm at a loss. If I'm not enough for him now then how will I ever be?"

"The kid's troubled, no doubt about it, but if he wakes back up and finds out his sister hates him...well then I don't think there's much chance for him to get over this." Luke said looking to Jazz. "I get that you're mad about it but in the end who are you going to hate more, him or yourself?"

* * *

I'm sorry it takes me forever to update but I swear I am gonig to finish this one, it's not gonna be like my others that just sit there forever and ever unfinished and unloved. I really do like this one, life's just very busy that's all and I must keep up with the world. Honestly I enjoy this story entirely and I will get it done, bear with me okay?


	10. Chapter 10

For a moment the doctors had shuffled Sam and Mike out, promising to let them back in to see Danny after they were done checking him out. Mike made a point to tell them that Danny's eyes had been blue before he'd gone into the coma and they made a point to give the twenty years old an odd stare. So there he and Sam were waiting outside the door together staring each other in the eyes.

"Did you see-" Sam began but stopped short when he nodded.

Mike pulled out his cell phone and began dialing the numbers he'd familiarized himself with he paused as he was about to hit the send button to make the call. "Look Sam, we need to be sensitive, I know it's all really overwhelming but Danny needs our support." He started at the number pattern on the screen of his cell phone. "Jazz does too."

The phone was ringing and ringing, he prayed she wouldn't ignore him but he couldn't imagine her being that petty. Finally there was a click and an exhausted or perhaps sad voice on the other end uttering a fractured greeting; he bet she didn't even look at the caller i.d.

"Jazz...it's Mike. Danny woke up." He announced quickly.

"Mike it's eight, visiting hours are ending, even if I jumped up and left now I couldn't stay."

"Special permission." Mike offered then looked to Sam who was now sitting on the floor her head leaned against the wall. "Danny...he's going to need you. Lord knows Sam and I aren't going to be enough and I imagine he's going to be unstable."

There was a long pause so much that Mike checked his phone to make sure that she hadn't hung up on him. It made him shift nervously and made him bite his lip because as strong and composed as he liked to be he was scared, taking care of someone like that was a big responsibility.

Finally she sighed. "Alright, I'll come."

Mike hung up and looked to Sam again who was slowly huddling into a tight ball on the floor he slid down beside her and patted her shoulder gently. Sam didn't glance his way she continued to stare empty eyed at the wall her face devoid of any emotion. The older man sighed and played with the fabric on his jeans.

"I think it's my fault..." Sam murmured and caught his eye. "I gave him the means to do it and my returning to his life wasn't exactly a warm reunion, I don't think I made things easier."

"I don't think you made it worse. I wish we'd seen the signs before this, I wish there was something we could've done before things got this far, but we should just be grateful we get the second chance to make things alright."

The two stared at each other thoughtfully then were interrupted by the door swinging open. The doctor seemed slightly caught off guard to find them sitting on the floor so reluctantly they stood up. He looked at the two strange and haggard young adults and offered them a sympathetic smile.

"He appears stable but only physically; he's going to need a lot of support." He said softly. "We'd like to notify the parents do you have their information?"

"No, he doesn't have any parents." Mike answered. "His sister Jazz and I take care of him."

The man look slightly perturbed but nodded in understanding. "Well I suggest you talk with him." He offered and gesticulated toward the door offering for the two to go in and do as the doctor suggested.

Mike and Sam walked back into the room and noticed a pair of green eyes following their movements. The older boy was the first to approach the bedside and he looked down at the fragile looking body. The unfamiliar eyes looked up at him and the boy gave an annoyed sigh, he knew he was in trouble.

His eyes darted away as he caught a glimpse of a scared and sad looking Sam hiding behind the taller person, she gave a sideways concerned glimpse over his shoulder. Danny tensed his nerves and prepared for an unpleasant conversation because he knew why he was here and he knew what they thought.

"Six minutes down…" Mike announced quietly looking at the boy. "That's six minutes we were without you. Do you remember anything?"

"Not since I was back at the apartment…everything after I took the pills isn't anything to me." Danny paused. "So I died huh?"

"Do you have to be so casual about it?" Sam asked unnerved as she stepped out from behind Mike. "That's not okay, you were dead Danny. Dead. Six minutes is too long and it's nothing to be so careless about."

Mike, in any other situation, might've told the girl to ease off but he fully agreed with her. The way Danny spoke of his condition was so relaxed it was terrifying; as if he didn't care who he had hurt or almost left behind. It didn't help anymore that his eyes were now a strange foreign green that seemed to reflect oblivion.

"Danny this isn't a joke to any of us and it shouldn't be for you." Mike scolded in a soft tone but that normal composed almost zen way he had of talking was leaving him. "Don't you have an idea of the drastic impact this has had on us all? What do you have to say for yourself?"

"My bad...?" Danny offered with a shrug and sheepish grin.

"Danny!" Sam screeched flinging her hands up in exasperation. "What is your problem? We've worried about you every hour of the day and the minute we all want to really talk you act like a complete jack ass!"

"Ugh I'm tired of being so solemn and resigned. The only mistake I made was not taking enough to kill me before you found me. I regret nothing."

The older boy was considerably flustered and the shocked look on his face was enough to make Danny's stomach recoil. Sam was a different story and was hardly the one to contain any feeling of frustration inside and she predictably didn't. Danny could handle that sort of reaction, he expected it really, it was the inner disapproval and disappointment that was so unnerving.

Sam gasped and tears sprung to her eyes. "So…everything means nothing to you? We mean nothing to you…I mean nothing?" She asked her voice cracking from tears. "I think I'm going to be sick, I can't look at you!"

The girl turned on her heels and left holding her hand to her mouth as tears streaked down her face. Mike simply stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked over to the seat propped at the bedside and sat in the cold plastic chair. His brown eyes stared steadily into the empty green irises.

"Harsh." Mike announced. "You really don't understand what you've done?"

"No…I do…I really fucking do." Danny returned in a hoarse and dark voice. "Why wouldn't I? I knew exactly what I was doing what I would cause, but I hadn't meant to survive. But I hate regrets more than apologies."

Mike released a sigh and his eyes were half lidded a sign that he was almost falling into meditation to clear his mind. He often meditated when he was stressed or exhausted or growing sick. Danny tightened his hands into almost fists not because he was aiming to fight but because he was scared, it was time to hone up to what he had done.

"So…suicide huh? The great egress right? Danny…I can't lose you maybe I've never told you that you're a greater part of my life. Maybe there's no way to word that can express your worth. But Danny when I think about the future for me and Jazz, I include you indefinitely."

"I know…God…I know." Danny lowered his head. "I don't want you to include me; I don't want to be stuck forever in other people's lives. I only want you both to have your own lives, separate from me. But there's no way to separate myself from you both in life…"

"Oh Danny…you don't understand. Jazz and I don't want to distill you. Losing someone you care about is the worst feeling in the world I know."

"It wasn't anything personal." Danny said quietly.

Mike gave off a bitter sort of laugh. "Whether you meant to hurt us or not, it was going to be taken personally. Regardless of your motives."

"Look, it physically hurts to be alive. You talk about that girl who died and all that devastating past-stuff, but Mike you may have been ravaged mentally but you never had to deal with it physically too. You'd be depressed but you could get up and walk around outside in the world, I can't do that; even if I feel okay I can't do that. My entire life is based around surviving but I'm so sick of surviving, that isn't living."

Danny paused and looked solemnly forward. "And I'd be okay as long as I could breathe fresh air."

The older boy was silent his contemplative brown eyes met with the desperate green ones the first sign of life he'd seen in them since they'd been revealed. There was something to what Danny was saying and he understood completely but then he'd always understood the boy more then he cared to admit.

"I've tried to kill myself before you know?" He announced looking at the younger boy steadily.

"No you didn't." Danny denied quickly, Mike was sort of a hero of his how could he emulate someone who was just as pathetic as he is now. Mike had to be the one who was strongest through it all, the one who overcame it with strength and dignity.

"Come on Danny, you think I was always as strong and level-headed as I am now. When she died I wanted to follow, I wanted to follow so bad that Luke literally held me down and screamed at me until I smartened up."

Danny shut his eyes and bowed his head. "I can't live in this box anymore." He breathed not wanting to learn anymore of Mike's story he already had a distinct image in his head from the few words.

Mike looked steadily at the boy. "Look Danny, there's no perfect way to live but just keep an open heart."

----------

"Danny, Mike told me to come in, though I don't think you really want to see me." Sam announced sheepishly as she reentered the room alone.

He looked to her and scanned her every move and gathered immediately that she was that same nervous girl he'd reunited with only months ago. She would never be the Sam Manson he remembered from years prior, it seemed like much from the past had died. "Why would you think that?" He asked softly as she sat beside him.

"Because you tried to kill yourself and I can't help but think that has something to do with my reappearing in your life." She explained meekly.

Danny laughed a little a heavy sort of laugh. "No...Sam you can't blame yourself for this. This has nothing to do with anyone; this was me trying to take the easy way out. I'd never destroy myself to spite someone; no one should ever do that."

"Why won't you talk to me Danny?" She took his hand. "I know you have Jazz but we used to understand each other intimately, we used to share secrets that we never told anyone else. If you felt that lost why not try using me for once?"

He squeezed her hand gently. "I didn't think of it, again nothing personal, I was tired of talking about it. I still am, I still don't want to."

She sighed and slumped her shoulders loosening her grip on his hand. "You have to...this is what happens when you don't." Her glance stole away to the machine beside them both it was still noisily announcing his life.

"Don't be afraid." He pleaded in a soft voice.

"It's too hard not to be." She returned a few tears falling down her face she broke away as she started to cry. He considered holding her arm or giving her some comfort but he wasn't sure how. She was still strange in her actions, years ago he would've had a natural response to her, but now it was foreign.

"I'm sorry." He admitted. "I hate that, this regret, I hate it. I'm trying to make sense of something or anything so bear with me. I don't know, I'm sorry."

She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Don't be sorry, I know we can never take back the past. I think all of us know that. What's been done is done we should focus on now."

"I agree with you but it's kind of funny but..." Danny laughed a light sad laugh. "I don't know what to do now."

She echoed his laughter. "Me neither." The inexplicable laughter didn't seem to phase them somewhere in the shared irony they found lightness.

"Um I don't mean to break the mood," Sam stuttered and shifted uneasily pushing he knees together and wringing her hands. "But Jazz just arrived and...I'm sure she needs to talk with you."

Danny let loose a heavy sigh. "I suppose she has to." He responded.

"She loves you Danny." Sam offered gently as she patted his hand.

He looked to the darkly dressed pale girl with an uneasy look. "I don't see how she still could."

-----------------

Jazz stood quietly facing the window and holding her elbows in each arm, behind her was the hospital bed where she knew her brother was watching her from. She could feel his eyes staring at the back of her head never wavering. She knew he was waiting for her to say something, preferably comforting, but she couldn't seem to get the fork from her tongue.

More silence passed as she stared out at the cold gray sky which seemed just as quiet save for the portending of the dark clouds. The only sound was the steady beeping of the machine which made a stale almost hallowed sound in their quiet room, a dreadful reminder that she was not alone and that she was in the last place she wanted to be.

"Jazz…" Danny murmured pathetically as he searched for the words to give her. "Jazz…I-I don't know…what to say."

A span of a few minutes felt like an eternity for the teenager it was unbearable. Would she ever speak to him? He couldn't have messed up so badly to actually spite the only person in the world that never stopped loving him. He'd felt completely confident talking with the others but he only cared what she thought of him because she was the only person who mattered to him.

"I don't think I have anything to say to you." She said flatly no real emotion apparent in her voice. "What you did…what _you_ did." She stopped abruptly.

She shook the rage was rising once more and she didn't feel like she had the control to be leveled with him. Jazz wasn't going to be able to stay calm and face this in a mature manner. So Danny took it upon himself to do the talking sensing his sister didn't have the mind to.

"It wasn't supposed to happen this way." She still kept her back to him but he continued. "I didn't do this to end up here…I wasn't supposed to end up anywhere it was just to be…gone. I'm a burden Jazz; don't think I don't know it. I'm stopping you from having a life of your own."

"Where should you be now? You should be acing through school, getting your degree, working a real job, getting ready to be married. All these things…I've stolen them, all your dreams have yielded to me. You were the one that was supposed to achieve greatness with all your limitless talents. I'm wasting your life."

Jazz turned and walked over to the bed and stared into his blue eyes with her own. "Don't you dare." She shook tears finally finding their way to her eyes. "Don't you see Danny? You are my life." She cried. "I can't believe you'd try to kill that. You're the only thing that matters to me in this life Danny." She hid her face in her hands trying not to let him see her cry, they'd both seen that too much.

Danny watched as she turned her face away choking down any sort of sob that was building up in her throat. He began nervously biting his lip he wasn't so dense that he didn't know he mattered, he just wasn't sure how to relate to her feelings. He didn't know how to comfort her because he never could console himself which was why he was in this situation in the first place.

He kept telling himself he'd swallowed every pill to liberate Jazz of burden she never should've had to carry. He kept saying he was sacrificing his life in exchange for a good one for her. But somewhere deep down he knew the other reasons, that he was a coward, that he couldn't hold himself together so he let himself fall apart. Danny wanted so bad to believe that he wasn't so selfish.

Still as he lied in the hospital bed with his sister crying beside him all he wanted was to die. He stared forward wordless knowing this drastic urge would take some time to find its weight.

Jazz shifted weakly and pulled herself together wiping the last remnant of proof that she'd just been crying and looked at him. "You can come home in seven days." She announced softly.

He looked at her and bit back tears in his eyes. "What?" He responded in a quiet almost toneless voice. "Why seven days?"

She quickly put hand over his now clenching fist to pacify him. "You're alright; they say you'll make a fine recovery. It's just... Danny you did attempt suicide, they need to keep you in the psychiatric ward to...watch you. You'll need to tell them everything Danny, respect them, and try Danny, for me?"

Danny swallowed hard and rested a hand over his stomach to try and keep it from revolting against him. He felt sick, like he had plenty of times before, still the guilt was slowly weighing down on him. "Jazz-" He began but he heard himself and realized how feeble and pathetic he sounded and recognized that the voice matched the person. Tears sprung to his eyes and he felt his composure collapsing beneath him and try as he might he couldn't seem to get a grip.

Jazz sensed it and all the animosity she'd been holding over his head suddenly melted away with the now apparent tears forming in the corner of his sickening green colored eyes. There was familiarity in them now, now that she could see her little brother acting like she knew him. And she remembered now who they were, they were together against the worl that had left them to a despondent life.

Jazz moved forward and sat beside him on the bed she took his hand. "It's alright Danny." He clutched back and dropped his head to shield his face, he felt awful and all he wanted to do was break. She gave him a squeeze and felt him tighten his grip in response.

"It's not." He returned his tone carrying an air of understanding.

She sighed and smiled as best as she could while using her free hand to lift his chin up and meet eyes with him, they were unearthly nearly insubstantial, still she could recognize her Danny somewhere beneath the unfriendly green. "I know, but things will change."

"Are we gonna be okay Jazz?" He asked in a meek torn up voice.

His green eyes gazed steadfastly into her turquoise eyes there was such a distance between them now, the new color was just another reminder. Now there was a problem to face, it felt new but in reality it was something very old that had finally been expressed. Jazz couldn't wrap her mind around it completely, because this whole time she'd believed they'd been fighting off mortality together when he was secretly striving for death.

Worse still was that he almost got exactly what he wanted and was still not satisfied.

She breathed deeply and gave his hand a nervous squeeze; she was at a loss for words. "I don't know."

* * *

_Ughhh updating...I'm bad at that._


	11. Chapter 11

"Hey there!" A voice chirped as he opened his eyes to see a strange lithe girl staring at him from the edge of his bed.

Danny reflexively jumped and sat upright staring at the girl with wide startled eyes. "Uh..can I help you?" He asked meekly shifting uncomfortably in his bed.

She looked at him and fingered her bleached white hair and smiled. "I wanted to tell you I think your eyes are beautiful, I'm sorry I've been staring at you since you came here but I see you every day and stare and I feel bad."

Danny blinked at her with surprise. "Well...umm it's okay, I didn't really notice, no offense I just didn't." He responded in a lack-luster tone.

She frowned slightly then got closer to him. "You don't sleep in the psyche ward, are you really sick? Why are you here, I'm here cause I jumped from a two story house." She seemed rather compulsive in her asking and it only made him more uncomfortable aside from the sick feeling he got with her being around.

But there was also no fear with her, he sensed he could tell her what he did to get where he was and she wouldn't judge him. She seemed like such a kind soul that she couldn't possibly have malicious intent in her questioning. She was just curious and friendly and probably feeling pretty lonely herself.

"Well I'm pretty sick." Danny answered softly, people hadn't asked him for a year or so what was wrong with him. Most people just looked at him with pity knowing he was sick with something and was just a kid. "It's like...a cancer I guess. Sometimes I can go into total respiratory failure randomly so they have to watch me closer, especially when I'm sleeping." He explained and it felt good to do it, even to the strange girl.

She cocked her head. "Wow." She finally uttered. "That sucks." She was definitely a teen.

"Yeah I guess so."

"No really. I mean that's not fair, you look pretty young, I can't imagine..." She seemed genuinely upset by what he had told her and he nearly regretted doing so. "It...it doesn't hurt you does it?" She was timid now, less excited then she had been, maybe she was feeling bad just for asking.

"No, I'm accustomed to it, I don't feel a thing." He tried to reassure her because she looked so sad. It struck him as odd because he didn't even know her name and she didn't know his yet her unhappiness was making him unhappy. "Really."

She looked down and he noticed how unnatural she seemed in the setting. He'd never felt so bad about making someone so upset before, not even Sam or Jazz had evoked this feeling of unhappiness in him and he knew them and loved them. She affected him and he didn't like it and at that moment he would've told her anything just to make her feel better.

"What a piece of work is man. How noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a God! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals—and yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?" He recited drawing her attention and lighting her eyes up.

"What?" She was dumbfounded and intrigued.

"It's from Hamlet..." He offered with a shrug. "It's all I can think of lately, I thought you might like it."

She was speechless at first probably from confusion but she ended up smiling. "Wow, you can quote Shakespeare from the top of your head? You must be pretty smart. What does it mean?" And just like that her interest was peeked again and she wasn't so sad looking anymore.

"I'm not very smart, I just have a lot of free time." Danny responded with a slight smile, he hadn't been around new people to be complimented like that in a long time. "It's a soliloquy from Hamlet, it's basically about his misanthropic tendencies and disgust at mankind because he was still pretty depressed about the death of his father and-"

"So you tried to kill yourself too!" She exclaimed a little too enthusiastically. "See, I thought for a second back there that you were in the psyche ward because you were terminal and needed help coping with death."

He sat back against his pillow with a very confused look crossing his face. "That isn't exactly a _good_ thing. But you're wrong about one thing, if you must know I _am _terminal, but I tried to kill myself instead of letting "nature" take it's course." He stated flatly. For a few moments he thought he was going to have an intellectual conversation with a possible new friend but she just seemed obsessed with death.

She was suddenly distracted and she looked over her shoulder, there was no one there, but she seemed concerned just the same. "Well I gotta run umm-"

"Danny."

She smiled again he thought he rather liked her smile, as strange as she was, she had very pretty features to her. "Danny. I'm Kat. I hope we meet again, because you seem so nice. Feel better okay?"

Then just like that she was gone and he wasn't sure he'd ever see that strange girl again. More importantly he wasn't sure that he wanted to there was strange comfort and discomfort that came with talking to her. It was as though he was safe to tell her everything but she was also so unfamiliar and unnatural that he couldn't let his whole guard down. Of course there was also her strange non-chalant attitude towards suicide and the fact that she was so upset in thinking he was _just _terminal.

The more the raven haired teen thought of it the more he felt odd about the entire situation. At this point he was ready to chalk it up to a drug-induced dream. How many more days, he wondered, he was dying to go home and be comfortable. He'd forgotten how strange the outside world could be.

Only a few hours later he asked a nurse if there was a girl named Kat staying in the psyche ward and if she could give her a note. "I'm sorry young man, but Kat passed away last night, complications you know? The fall was too much and she was too small for the impact."

He blinked at her and asked for the time and he knew he hadn't slept through a day. "Was she a friend of yours sweetie?" The woman asked sympathetically.

"Oh, who? Kat. No we talked once I guess." He responded baffled and horrified. The nurse had nothing else to offer him and had left him alone while he stared at the walls.

He kept blinking and kept trying to convince himself that he had not just talked to a dead girl. None of that morning was possible, she wasn't even alive at the time he thought he saw her. Maybe it was coincidence that he had imagined a girl named Kat and there happened to be another girl in the same hospital. He bit his lip until it bled, the dead don't talk to the living. Maybe he had spoken to her before and had forgotten when it was.

Or maybe he was losing his mind, that seemed perfectly logical, or at least the only thing that made any real sense.

--

"So Danny how are you, you get to leave today." The dark red-haired woman said her green eyes staring into his own eyes of the same color.

He shifted on the corner of the bed, the therapist had stopped in to say goodbye while he waited for Jazz to pick him up. He couldn't wait to see his sister he was going to hug her and tell her that he loved her very much and that he was sorry. He had missed her dearly over the past seven days and she was always very important to him and took an active role in his life; all those mushy things he didn't usually like to talk about. But he decided he didn't like being without her anymore.

"I guess I'm doing alright." He offered softly. "I really want to go home."

After seven days he didn't feel comfortable with the therapist, she seemed nice and chipper enough, but she made him uncomfortable, even queasy. She told him he was very sensitive and she understood his discomfort but something told him she didn't understand at all. "Do you still feel depressed?"

She was required to ask him that. "No." He answered knowing it was a lie.

Of course he was still depressed, he was questioning his sanity all week, and still dying all the while. He was dying still and had been for some time, it was all just a slow process. He didn't want to answer truthfully because he was afraid they'd keep him longer and all he wanted to do was be with his sister and her boyfriend. He had decided over the course of the week through "grief counseling" that if he died he wanted to be with his family and his friend, no matter how small of a group that was.

"It's perfectly alright to feel afraid or sad in the face of your own mortality." She began and he had stop himself from rolling his eyes.

She always went back to that, picked apart the sutures he'd sewn up until the wounds were reopened and bleeding. It made him miserable to be constantly reminded he was going to die in a time not too far from now. His way of coping was not thinking too hard on the subject or focusing on it when it wasn't prevalent. Today it wasn't prevalent but she insisted on bringing it up anyway.

"I know." Danny responded. "But that's not what I'm concerned about right now." He brushed his hair away and pretended to be interested in the reflective steel of her clipboard. "I'm wondering if I'll ever see my eyes blue again."

She made a humming noise and looked at him. "No one knows for sure, it might be permanent. Which is unfortunate because it's just another reminder of what transpired over the past two weeks. Does it bother you like that?"

He internally winced and nearly let his emotions show which he knew was bad with her, because then she'd use that and make him dwell on it. "No, it's not that. I just think I looked a hell of a lot more handsome with blue eyes then green." He cracked a smile and almost thought he saw dismay on her face. "What do you think?"

They'd been playing cat and mouse like this for the past three days. At first he kept his promise to Jazz to try and work with a therapist towards positive ends, but after a while he didn't feel like the therapist was helping. So for their last few days he'd defy her attempts at trying to bring up something painful and lead her down an entirely different path of conversation. He knew it drove her insane and frustrated her but he found it pretty funny.

"I can't really tell you that Danny, I've never seen your eyes blue." She said her soft voice had a jagged edge to it now.

Before the woman had a chance to pursue any further Jazz popped into the room and brought about what could've been a ray of sunshine to Danny. He immediately grabbed his things and hurried over to her arms and surprised her with a tight and loving embrace. "Hi there Danny." She greeted and hugged her clinging brother back.

"I've missed you. Take me home?" He whispered not wanting the woman to overhear his personal moment with his sister. "I'm sorry Jazz I love you, I'm so sorry."

She seemed stricken at his reaction but she stroked his hair while he continued to hang onto her like a terrified child. "It's okay Danny. I love you too." Finally she managed to get free of his grip and she smiled at the doctor happily while Danny stood off to the side nervously watching.

"So is my Danny all set to go?" She asked the woman kindly.

"He seems to have made some good progress; he claims he no longer feels suicidal. He's a little touchy when you discuss death with him but other than his obvious closed-off personality; I think he's a pretty okay kid. Just had a little trouble, right Danny?" She asked cheerfully looking over at the kid who gave her a cold look.

"Thank you very much Doctor Spectra." Jazz said shaking the woman's hand. "I'm so glad you were able to help Danny, you don't know how much it means to me, to us. It hasn't been easy for him and we appreciate any help we can get, I just wish more people were like you."

"It's not a problem Ms. Fenton, helping is what I do. It's my passion." She flashed a big smile at Danny. "You take care now, alright?"

He nodded and hurried his sister out of the room. She tried to ask what his rush was but he didn't respond, he was feeling nauseas and suddenly sapped of energy. All he wanted now was to go home and get into his warm bed and be with his tiny family and away from the strange hospital. He decided he didn't like interacting with people outside his comfort zone and he didn't like being away from home for so long.

Once they were in the car Danny relaxed and was able to enjoy the familiar company for a little. Jazz soon turned down the radio and looked over at him. "I'm sorry I didn't visit you as much as you'd like when you were there. It was a hectic week and Mike and I picked up as many double shifts as we could. I know it was hard Danny."

She reached over and took his hand. "They told me about a few...episodes. I know you wanted me to be with you and I wanted to be there too." A sadness seemed to shine in her eyes and Danny squeezed her hand. "Danny I know you can't promise me anything completely but I want you to try and keep one promise for me."

"What is it Jazz?"

"That'll you'll never do that to yourself again."

Danny blinked, it had been such a strange experience, to try and kill one's self that he couldn't imagine trying again. He nodded assuredly. "Okay, I promise." And though it felt like he'd been making these promises to people all week he meant it for Jazz. He didn't want to put her through that again. It wasn't an option, even if it meant he'd had to surrender the only control he had over his fate.

--

Sam sat quietly reading a book, Danny was sick again, vomiting now. Ever since he'd returned from the hospital he'd been under the weather, now he was really sick. They assumed he'd caught something like the flu just from being in an area where sick people gather. No one thought anything of it, not even Danny. It was just the flu any how but it made him miserable as of Saturday morning when he started puking up his guts.

It was Sunday night now and Sam was watching him while Jazz ran some errands and Mike worked. Jazz still was insecure with Sam being alone with Danny but she had listened to Sam's explanation and decided to forgive her. It was all she could do, she had to believe Sam because she had no reason not to.

Sam looked at the clock from her book and glanced towards the bathroom door, he'd been in there for a while and she was getting concerned. He'd been throwing up for a little over twenty-four hours which was never a good sign for anyone, but it was especially concerning for someone like Danny. She put the book down and walked towards the door and leaned against it.

Everything was quiet, a little too quiet. "Danny." She called while rapping on the door gently. "Are you alright, do you need something? Water?" She asked but received no response.

She bit her lip and paced for a second, she had to rationalize. For all she knew he was lying on the floor just resting because he felt so terrible or maybe he didn't want to have to get up again. It probably wasn't as bad as she thought it was but then again this was Danny, everything is much worse than you'd think it was.

She knocked again louder as worry started to bubble over. "Danny." She called loudly attempting to get a response. "Hey, Danny are you okay? Answer me Danny."

Still nothing, she grabbed the knob and realized it was locked, she cursed under her breath. Why would he lock it of all the stupid things to do, why would he lock it? She ran to his bedroom and grabbed his first aid kit to prepare for the worse then she grabbed a debit card from her purse to pick the lock. In times of emergency she had to act fast.

What if he had passed out? She feared what was behind the door as she began picking the lock. What if he stopped breathing? She bit her lip and felt her skin get clammy. What if she was too late?

"Danny! If you're conscious please answer me." She pleaded still trying to pry the door open. "Danny, please."

Finally there was a muffled moan on the other side of the door. Sam nearly toppled over in relief, she felt as though she'd been holding her breath the entire time and now she could breathe. "Sam don't open the door." Danny said in a weak voice.

"Danny! Are you alright?" She inquired in a frazzled voice; she'd nearly had a panic attack.

There was a silence the she heard a thud against the wall and a frustrated moan. "Well..." He began then paused for some time. Sam was nearly ready to break the door down to just reassure herself that he was alright. Even though she heard his voice it sounded different, hollow almost, like there was an echo.

Finally he spoke again, his voice somber and sure. "Sam, I seem to be dead."

* * *

_Gasp! I...I updated? I know...I'm scared too._


	12. Chapter 12

"Danny are you crazy?" Sam finally responded flatly. "I'm coming in Danny clearly you hit your head."

"No Sam...you don't want to." He protested softly, he sounded scared maybe even close to crying. She wasn't afraid because he couldn't be dead because then he wouldn't be talking to her. It was only logical.

Sam managed to slip the card beneath the lock and get the door open. What she saw was not what she expected, there was a boy in the room huddle against the wall his knees tucked up against his chest. Unearthly green eyes found her beneath the silver-white hair with an unsettling stare. She bit her lip looking at the strangely familiar boy and wondered just what she was dealing with.

"Jeez Danny what'd you do to your hair?" She remarked with a smirk slowly making her way over to him.

He scowled at her in response. "I really wish I knew." He muttered in desperation while burying his head in his arms.

She sat beside him and put a hand on his arm but immedieatly pulled back in shock. "My god you're...you're as cold as-"

"Death." Danny whispered and shuddered while hiding his face again. "I-I don't feel right Sam."

Worry crossed the girl's face and she urged him to his feet. Her tone had changed along with her attitude toward the sitiuation. There was something very unpleasant in the air. "Come on Danny, maybe you should lie down."

He complied with her but only because he wasn't fully focused on what she was saying. All he could think of was what had happened to him and he didn't even know what that was. Inwardly he was panicking and felt the fear escalating with every passing second. When he looked up from the floor he realized he was sitting in his room on his bed where worried violet eyes were looking at him. How long had she been waiting like that?

He locked eyes with her and he would've taken a calming breath but he realized he was at a loss for that now. She patted his knee softly and spoke. "Danny, can you tell me what happened? What's wrong?"

He wanted to keep her away so she wouldn't have to know. He wanted to hide and never have to deal with this new hand he'd been dealt by the cruel fates. Danny didn't know how to explain this to her and wasn't sure where to start. She couldn't possibly understand just what he was dealing with now. If only he could find the right sentiments for a moment like this but he wasn't sure what this might engender.

She stared intently at him trying to keep her eyes off his new apparel. There was something so painfully reminiscent in that outfit but she couldn't remember ever really seeing it anywhere before. And yet the skin tight black fiber and white gloves and boots weren't so foreign to her memory. The Fenton's used to wear hazmat suits not unlike what Danny may have been wearing at this instant.

She couldn't even fathom where it had come from and why it seemed to be giving off a glow. It couldn't have been Danny that was emiting the light. That wasn't humanly possible.

"I can't breathe." He finally announced splitting the silence while letting his shoulders slouch in defeat. It was the only truth he seemed to grasp currently and it was all he could give to her. He knew she expected more but it was all he knew.

"It's alright Danny I can handle this, just lie down and-" She began while bending over to retrieve the medical kit on the floor but he stopped her while shaking his head.

"I think it's too late." He murmured weakly.

She shivered in his grasp and he let go with a guilty look. "What are you talking about?" She inquired in a quieted voice as if speaking too loud would make him vanish. She began to wonder if the fever was making him dillusional. She was willing to over look his strange appearance for the time being, at least until she sorted out his physical problem.

He looked down at his hands and was still confused to see the strange gloves dawning them. He had only lost sight for a moment but when his vision returned he'd looked like this. There had been a bright flash of light and he remembered closing his eyes only for a minute. None of it made any sense and he wasn't sure how to articulate it to her. Somehow telling her that he'd ceased life-functions was confusing and unrealistic.

What was even more confusing was the fact that if what he thought was true then he was defying logic. Danny felt crazier then he'd even felt before in his inability to rationalize. But for once, which was stricking, he wasn't in pain. The revelation gave him some relief, for once in years he wasn't in any pain. He layed back and closed his eyes for a moment feeling disconnected and lost.

"Danny please tell me what's going on." Sam pleaded, she was getting scared, he could sense it.

In fact he seemed to suddenly sense an energy that she as giving off, it was warm but uncomfortable. She was nervous and scared and he didn't need to look at her to know it. He searched for her hand and felt her shake and her skin tingle as though the contact was unpleasant. He squeezed her hand but didn't feel like he was solid like her. She must've felt the same because she placed her other hand on his forehead. Her touch was strange and almost forgein to him.

"Danny-"

"The air is so much thicker when you don't need it." He mused aloud before quieting himself.

While he lied there she watched him, his eyes were closed and his facial features didn't change. She looked at his chest out of habit and expected a slight rise and fall. After a while it was apparent there was no movement at all. Sam bit her lip and carefully rested two fingers on his neck searching for a rythm. His unearthly green eyes flicked open and stared into hers with a strange disconnected amusement.

She shook her head. "This isn't possible."

She swallowed hard trying to rationalize just what she was experiancing. He watched as she pressed her palm over his chest and waited. But still there was nothing, no rise and fall, no beating, just that cold unnatural feeling. "Maybe we should get you to a hospital."

Danny snapped upwards and began to shake his head. "Sam, look at me. Do you really think there's anything left for anyone to do?" He gestured at himself and saw the fear well up in her eyes. Her reserves were breaking down.

"You don't know that. This could be one of those side-effects to being exposed to that radiation your parents had told us about." She retorted trying desperately to come up with an answer to this impossible puzzle.

"Sam don't you think it's a little too late for help? Did you feel a pulse, 'cause I don't. I haven't even been breathing this whole time. I don't even look like myself." He pointed out in a harsh tone. Considerably he was flustered with this new state of existance. "I think I may be-"

"No, don't say that." She interjected forcefully.

"And why not?" He queried darkly.

She clenched her teeth and narrowed her eyes. "Because Danny, if that was..._true_ then we wouldn't be talking about it right now." She lowered her fierce tone. "I can't think of you that way, not right now."

"What do you want me to do about it?" Danny asked the frustration and hopelessness rising in his voice. "I'd change things if I could."

Sam began shaking her head in complete denial. "I don't believe this, I can't. If I believe this then you're-"

"Dead." He affirmed solemnly.

"For real." She added and once again they locked eyes.

The two teenagers were at a loss. They didn't have answers they didn't even have an explanation. They were both trying desparetly to explore the situation without losing control. Danny was distraught because he couldn't seem to voice just what he was thinking. He also was debating on whether or not he should stay around any longer. Sam wasn't reacting well and she was always one to be comfortable with the abnormal.

There weren't many words to explain just how he was feeling at moment, though he doubted he was feeling anything real at all. He was wondering if he hadn't fallen unconcious on that bathroom floor and this was all some fever induced nightmare. Maybe the way he felt Sam was only his dream responses to her actually touching him somewhere in that waking world. A twinge of optimism pulled on him, if he could believe this were all a dream maybe he wouldn't have to be so afraid.

"I should wake up now." Sam whispered softly watching him play with the edges of her fingertips. He couldn't really feel them, the sensation was interesting, and he was trying to decipher why.

He broke out of his concentration and looked at her. "What?" She seemed to be thinking the same as him.

"Well the only logical solution is that I'm dreaming. But I can't be sleeping I'm supposed to be taking care of you." She reasoned almost monotonously. "So how does one wake themselves?"

He shrugged at a loss for a method. He wished one of them was dreaming but as he lied down again to regroup he was doubting that theory. He rested his hand on his chest and let his mind drift. It used to be that when he lied like this he gathered comfort from knowing at least he was still alive. He could always feel it, the familiar unfailing beating, it used to relax him. Because he always knew that as long as it was there he still had a fighting chance.

But now, now as he lied there, he felt nothing. He might as well have been touching stone or just about anything inanimate and cold. He would steal glances at Sam begging for some prespective, but she seemed just as lost. The overwhelmingly despondent feeling hung over them in the darkened room. Confusion passed between their glances as they both tried to figure just who had imagined this nightmarish reality. Between the two of them they begged for the other to wake up but to no prevail.

Danny lowered his head. "What if it's not a dream." He whispered too afraid to talk calmly of the matter anymore.

Sam started to shudder then almost reflexively she hid her face. He already knew what that meant and he watched for a moment with detatched curiosity the way her body shook when she cried. He almost wanted to sit there and just stare but that forgein human empathy started scratching at his mind.

He was meticulous with his movements and with a silence and smoothness that only a phantom could acheive he gathered the distraught girl in his arms. To him it was like holding a radiator, she emitted heat at a startling level, human contact didn't feel right. He used to treasure the comfort of another but now he could hardly stand to touch her.

"Don't worry so much Sam, it's probably not as bad as we think." He muttered trying his hardest to encourage her. Or at least get her to stop crying it was making him feel sick.

She was so warm, so alive, and he felt so contrary to her. Everything was wrong, all wrong. He tried to busy himself with stroking her hair maybe to comfort her or maybe to comfort himself. But the longer he held her the more a creeping resentment took a hold of him. Why should she be so lucky to breathe? Why was she perfectly alright while he was so obviously messed up?

The more he let it fester the worse the resentment became. He felt a sense of great power and strength far more that she could try to comprehend. To him she was just a rag doll in his grip and was at his mercy. The thoughts were consuming and his thirst to unlock and utilize this energy, this power, was increasing.

He only remained numb to his humanity for a few moments of contemplation until it struck him. He was thinking of hurting her and didn't know why. Terrorfied he released her and backed away in the process. The fear was biting because he no longer understood what he was anymore. Perhaps he was a monster, it only made sense now.

"Danny what's the matter?" Sam asked with a troubled expression.

He waved the intruding thoughts away. "I need to be alone." He urged as he stood up.

She stood up and came to be beside him but he shoved her back gently. "Danny," She coaxed. "I can't leave you alone. Not like this."

He began to shake his head and he paced. He had so much energy burning inside him and he didn't want her to make him angrier. That envy it had been so consuming of him. All because she was simply breathing, he couldn't risk it, it was such an easy descent. He wasn't sure what he'd do but he didn't feel like anything good was forthcoming.

"Please Sam, I just need a little time. I'll be okay, I just need some space to think. Please just let me have that." He hadn't wanted to beg but at this point he'd do anything for a little isolation. It was only for the best and he had to make his choices based on what was best.

Sam's features were serious and worried. Perhaps she couldn't understand the levity of what he was experiancing. What she did understand was the desperation in his voice. She couldn't deny him privacy it wouldn't be right. He still deserved dignity even if he was drastically changed. She was sure he was still Danny in some respect.

She didn't say anything to him she simply complied quietly and walked out the door. As soon as she did he slammed it shut and heaved his weight, or lack thereof, against the door. It was irrational for him to assume she'd change her mind and barge in but he didn't want her around. Or anyone for that matter. There was something about him now that made him feel like a dangerous abomination.

He paced again in his dark room wondering blankly just what he should do now. He was experiancing so much at once it was becoming overwhelming. He'd become so angry over seemingly nothing then immedietely felt remorse then sorrow and self-loathing. Then he'd go through the cycles again and at the same time feel something else entirely just below the surface.

Danny extended his hands in front of him curiously studying the gloves. He could hardly believe his own eyes the more he looked. He couldn't help but wonder what sick reality had designed this fate for him. Once again the anger began to build up inside him but this time he wasn't afraid to show it.

To his surprise that urge he'd been surpressing came forth and fizzled outward in bright green energy sparks. A new fear gripped him as the energy was a confirmation that he was dangerous. He carefully inspected the now broken and burnt radio in the corner of his room. He bent over to grab the pieces and felt that they were still warm from the blast.

"I...I did this?" He muttered turning the singed metal over in his hands. The same hands had, by some force, destroyed the piece of technology swiftly and silently.

Carefully he opened his palm and focused on the green that he'd seen before. Usually it came unintentionally in emotionally distressing times but this time he was willing it. At first it was difficult as his concentration was breaking with frustration, that green energy was real, he just had to control it. The longer it took the more he became concerned, what if he wasn't in control?

He could hurt everyone he loved if he never learned to garner such power. The thought made his head spin violently because that creeping resentment was back and it was a difficult thing to fight. The light came forth and Danny found hovering in his hand, by his own design, was a small orb of glowing green.

Of course his reaction to this was that of any sane person, panic.

What did he do with it now? Throw it? It might damage something larger and make Sam come back in here. She couldn't see what he was doing, it'd shock and possibly horrorify her. He wanted it to go away and just as those thoughts came to him it fizzled out, just like that. He relaxed slightly with the solace of knowing he had control over this power. Not the best control but still something was better than nothing at all.

Danny got up and moved toward the window he wasn't sure what to do anymore. Now everything was no longer a question of his mortality but a question of his humanity. He had tried to act calm with Sam in dealing with the whole possibility of him being dead but the more he thought of himself that way the more he feared death more than anything.

He'd never feared death before. All those times he spent in hospital beds teetering on the edge, the strange sometimes intimadating machines he'd been hooked to, the times he woke up in Jazz's shuddering arms had never scared him. Death was a very real possibility but it was never tangible, at least not to his memory.

He held his arms tightly against his body at the thought of his sister. He couldn't face her like this, he couldn't look her in the eye and tell her. She'd be devastated to come home and find her little brother dead but still in plain sight. Danny didn't want her to hurt anymore she'd cried for him far too much then she should've. He couldn't bear to put her through something like this not after all she'd done for him.

Staring out the window he wondered if jumping from it would be considered suicide since he didn't seem to be alive anymore. He'd promised Jazz he wouldn't do that to himself ever again but he seemed to be without many options. Danny wanted nothing more than to just disappear and all his problems would be over. He shut his eyes and thought if he could just vanish he'd never have to worry.

Upon opening them he looked around and noticed he wasn't in his room anymore. In fact he was standing in the lobby, it was raining. "Interesting..." He mused looking around having seemed to have passed through levels of the building in a very painless fashion.

He looked back towards the stairs and thought briefly of returning but instead he gathered his energy and ran. Running away was childish and he knew it but he couldn't face them, he wouldn't. So he disappeared down the street running until it felt like his feet weren't touching the ground, running to somewhere he could make sense of something.

Danny didn't look back but he didn't look forward. Everything was too much, like a sensory overload, he gritted his teath and kept running. He was losing sight, losing faith, and losing his identity. He couldn't possibly be Danny Fenton anymore but he couldn't even begin to know who he was now.

--

"Sam, Danny, I'm home." Jazz announced happily as she entered the only place she felt at home. She put her bags down and looked into the living room to see a girl curled into a ball on the couch. Her violet eyes were staring vacantly at the wall.

"Sam..." She queried cautiously while walking towards her. "Sam, what's the matter? He didn't..."

Sam shook her head. "No, it's not that. I'm just," She put a hand on her forehead and swallowed hard. What should she say to the older girl? "I'm just a little confused, is all."

Jazz's brow wrinkled in confusion. "What's going on? Where's Danny, is he okay?"

Sam bit her lip and lowered her eyes, she had a headache and it was pounding. "He's in his room."

"You look distressed Sam, is he okay?" She repeated her voice growing firmer.

The raven haired girl's response was her nervously grabbing the edges of her short hair while avoiding the other girl's question. Sam wasn't completely sure how to tell Jazz just what had happened. She didn't even know herself what had transpired over the past hour. Jazz grabbed Sam's hand and gave it a tender pat for confidence.

"Sam, I need a straight answer. Is Danny okay?" Jazz urged in a calm voice her eyes were gentle and coaxing.

Sam bit her lip and pointed to his door. "He's in his room." The girl responded firmly while Jazz got up in a hurry and made her way toward the door.

It was never a good sign or a good day when a simple question isn't answered straight. Something was wrong but the girl was neglecting to tell her maybe out of fear or guilt. Jazz hoped whatever was on the other side of his door wasn't as bad as Sam was making it seem. He had been sick after all, maybe Sam was stressed and worried. But why confused?

Jazz took a deep breath and felt Sam hovering behind her like a shadow. When she opened the door she took a quick glance around and saw nothing. She walked into the dark cold room and looked on the otherside of his bed in case he'd fallen and was relieved but scared to find no sign of him.

"Sam where's Danny?" She shouted looking at the girl with fierce eyes.

Sam shrugged looking completely lost and just as shocked. "He..he was literally here only minutes ago. I was right here with him." She looked around and muttered to herself. "At least I think I was."

She backed out of the room and raced to the bathroom fearing there was a body lying in there. Fearing that she'd found him dead and imagined the whole unwordly conversation and vision of Danny to protect herself from the truth. When she looked in the doorway she saw the bright light still on but the room was empty as well. She turned to seek Jazz but found the woman standing directly behind her with a frantic look.

"How could you lose him? We have to find him, he could be in danger." She exclaimed. "He can't be alone Sam, he could die."

"I didn't lose him." Sam retorted defensively. "He couldn't have gotten by me I was on that couch the whole time since I left him in his room. There's no way he went through the front door."

Jazz scoffed. "What are you suggesting he walked through the walls?" She responded folding her arms and glaring at the younger girl.

She had trusted her to be responsible and was not getting the results she'd expected. Inwardly she was cursing herself for leaving him with someone who had never been altogether herself. Danny was, afterall, emotionally unstable and probably not at all over his self-destructive tendencies. Jazz couldn't believe she was so trusting sometimes, that was her first mistake.

Sam clenched her teeth nervously at the thought, her violet eyes darting from his room to the couch she'd been on. None of this was making any sense and she had no explanation. "Of course not, " The girl answered her voice wavering with trepidation. "That...that's not humanly possible."

* * *

_I've been reluctant to post this chapter as I hate it. But I can find no substantial way to make it better or avoid it as a whole. Hopefully it's not as bad as I think, but it probably is._


	13. Chapter 13

"Well putting your incompetence aside, we have to find him." Jazz sighed with her hands on her hips. Quickly she reached for her phone to dial her boyfriend's number. He would be out of work soon and she figured it'd be best for him to comb the streets near where he was rather than come towards the house.

"My incompetence?" Sam responded angrily while gesticulating towards herself. "I didn't _do_ anything."

"Exactly, and that's why he's missing. Right now we have to look for him and if he doesn't turn up in twenty-four hours we can involve the police." Jazz turned her back on the girl as she placed her ear to the receiver.

Sam growled through clenched teeth while folding her arms. She made her way to the window and looked outside for a hint of silvery white hair or that faint glow. All she saw was another cold dreary March night and nothing more than empty streets. "Even if they look for Danny...they wouldn't know _what_ to look for." She murmured pensively deciding whether or not Jazz would believe her brother had transformed his image in so little time.

Jazz was shaking her head as she hung up her face lined with worry and frustration. Mike had not taken the news that Danny was missing well and it was difficult for her to wrap her mind around it. Danny had never run away before it was completely out of character for him. Mike had brought up a horrifying point, if he had run away his intentions were anything but good. He'd be away from home so no one could stop him.

Her mind reeled to what Lucas had told her. It was still cold enough out for the waters to be treacherous, it was dark enough, and he was alone. The fear gripped her and she grabbed a hold of the counter to steady herself.

"Jazz I-"

"Enough, we have to find Danny before he does something stupid. No more blaming for now, we'll split up, take your car and I'll take mine. Bring him directly home if you find him." The older woman instructed while grabbing her keys from the table a stern look set on her face. "And Sam," She called as the girl headed for the door. "Check at bridges..."

Sam blinked at her and nodded biting her lip only catching the connotation of what Jazz was fearing. Sam wasn't worried about Danny killing himself because she wasn't sure if that was even a possibility anymore.

---

Sam couldn't have been certain that Danny would end up here. In fact anyone could be certain this was the last place he'd want to be but somehow that seemed right, that at a time like this he'd be in the last place he'd ever want to be. She gulped as she stared up at the house, it didn't look like it used to, it could never retain its once welcoming warmth. It used to be a second home to her but now it was a place of death and it resembled that quite perfectly.

This was where it all started all the destruction, how could one house swallow so many lives? She braced herself as she stared up at the half dismantled sign, it once read Fenton Works now she wasn't sure what it was supposed to say. Nothing really, the home had never been bought by another family people feared it was haunted. Stories still floated around about how the portal to hell was centered in the basement, no one risked dealing with, which was probably the wisest choice.

The young girl pushed some lazily placed boards aside and forced the now creaky door open. The place looked like an abandoned home, dust settled on everything in a thick coat. Her boots scuffed some off the floor and made her cough as it entered her lungs. Her violet eyes gazed around the darkened house and she almost instinctively reached for a light switch but stopped herself in remembrance that there would be no light here. No one lived here and that betrayed the familiar surroundings.

It hardly mattered Sam knew the entire layout of house down to every last detail. And she didn't need to stumble around; she was headed for the basement, the basement she hadn't seen since the accident. She carefully picked her way through the dusty living room toward the kitchen she took a few paces toward the right and her fingers brushed against the door frame. Brushing the hair out of her eyes she slowly pulled the door open and stayed at the top step for a few moments breathing in the dusty air.

She squinted and noticed there was a pale light coming from downstairs, it didn't seem to be like anything electrical as far as she could tell. A shiver ran up her spine and she trembled slightly so many bad memories came flooding back to her. Mostly it was Danny's nearly lifeless body as it had been when he was thrown from the portal. She remembered everything how light his breath had come, how they couldn't get him to open his eyes. And she remembered how Jazz had gingerly hid her crying face from the terrifying world all night long while they all waited on Danny.

Sam thought for a moment that her memories were flooding her perception because she could swear she heard sobbing, but it didn't sound like her. She shook her head and tiptoed down the stairs; the sound was soft and floated on the air like a phantom. Once she reached the bottom she realized the entirety of the basement was cast in a green glow that was coming from the open portal.

Her breath was nearly stolen from her as she saw the green swirling of the vortex; she remembered that hole, the hole that swallowed up Danny's life. It worked, it really worked, it wasn't a fluke or an electrical error. Danny had turned it on. She heard the soft whimpering and saw a glowing white haired boy in the corner hunched over himself holding his sides.

"Danny." She whispered softly and walked slowly towards him.

He didn't look up but the way his back stiffened told her he knew she was near. She fell to her knees beside him as her hand hovered over his back, she wanted to comfort him but she was so afraid to touch him.

"Sam." He returned in a broken voice. "I'm dead; I've been dead all along. Suddenly the image in the mirror makes sense, the way it was always telling a half truth."

She bit her lip and held back a whimper. "You're not dead, you were just alive."

"I don't know how, I couldn't let Jazz know. How am I gonna tell her? She did everything to keep me alive and I still died." He moaned and held his head his fingers clutching his silvery hair.

Sam shook her head. "It doesn't make any sense. If you're dead, really dead, then how come there's no body? How is it we've been talking? If you're some spiritual form of Danny then where's the vessel, the black haired blue eyed vessel?"

"I don't know, I don't know. All I know is I'm not breathing so I'm not alive anymore. Maybe...maybe you're the only who sees me, maybe my body's lying in a gutter right now and they just haven't found it."

"Don't say that." Sam hissed and slapped the back of his head making him rear his head up. "That scares me, don't say that. I don't want to be crazy, that's horrifying."

He gritted his teeth and looked at her with vibrant green eyes and rubbed his neck. "Jesus Sam I never said you were crazy." He retorted.

"Well I don't want to be some medium that sees _ghosts_." The last word seemed to tumble from her lips like it was unnatural and a sin to even utter such a word.

Danny's eyes went wide and he turned toward the portal. "Ghost." He muttered. "Do you think?"

She lowered her head. "I'm...I'm not sure."

He bit his lip. "Well I'm not an angel, didn't ever believe in God. And I can't be a demon because I sure as hell don't have any malicious intents. And you can't tell me there's no after-life I'm liv-" He paused. "Well not _living_ but... tangible proof that after death there's a form of existence."

"Can we please stop saying death and any variation of the word until we're sure this is permanent?" The girl pleaded.

"Sam." Danny said firmly. "Look at me. You felt it yourself, I'm as cold as death and I sure has hell don't have any of the life functions going for me. It's not like I can just will my heart to beat again, that's really not how life works." He lectured in a matter-of-fact way.

He was about to continue going on about how dead people just can't believe they're alive again and be magically restored when he realized there was a flash of light appearing at his waist. Sam's eyes were wide as she watched the ball of light transform into a ring that split in two and traveled up his waist and down his legs. For a moment he was completely engulfed but when the light dissipated she was shocked to see what it left behind.

Danny bent over suddenly being rocked by a crippling pain and seemingly stricken by a fever. He took in shuddering breaths then realized in shock that he as doing that at all. He looked at Sam with bright wide eyes and they locked in a stare of disbelief.

"Danny your eyes...they're blue. They're blue!"

He gasped at every sensation that overwhelmed him bringing tears to his eyes. He examined his hands tentatively turning them over to take in the sight of his exposed warm flesh. "I'm alive. I'm..._alive_." The words spilled from his mouth and they didn't seem to make sense.

Sam wrapped him in a tight hug and seemed to squeeze the air out of him and even that discomfort felt good. He wanted to cry all over again in confusion and fear because he'd tasted death many times before but never had to exist in the state cohesively. He had felt it, his entire self dead, but now his heart was pounding vigorously as if none of that had occurred.

"What's happened to me?" He whispered as he finally grabbed a hold of Sam and rested his chin on her head. He wanted human contact it felt good again and he wanted to share his warmth and he wanted to feel hers. The human sensations were wonderful and all he wanted to do was fill the emptiness back up with sweet glorious touch.

"Does it matter? It's over, you're okay, I can feel you breathing. Whatever it was it's over now."

He pulled her away and searched her joyful violet eyes. "Sam I don't think this is the end." He turned his gaze to the portal then back to the raven haired girl. "No, I think the there's so much more to come."

"What do you mean?" She questioned.

"Whatever that was I don't think it was a one-time thing. If it can happen just like that, it'll probably happen again."

Sam looked at him, puzzled and slightly frightened. "I'm not sure I understand."

Danny let go and got to his feet and began to pace. "I don't know." He sighed in frustration. "God, I'm making sense of nothing in defense of something. Things aren't adding up yet, I haven't connected anything, but I'm going to. This doesn't _just _happen then go away forever. No, no, there's something to this, to whatever I just was only a minute ago."

Sam got to her feet and stood beside him. "Jazz is smart maybe she-"

"Jazz can't know!" Danny sputtered horrified. "God Jazz cannot know. She'll think we're crazy, she'll send me to an institution at that point. She already thinks I'm slipping mentally ever since the overdose, if I tell her I walked around dead for a few hours she'll definitely think I'm insane."

"I can vouch for you." Sam added sheepishly.

"She wouldn't believe you she'd call you a liar and me crazy. She doesn't really fully trust either of us, try not to take that as an affront to your character, but well you haven't been exactly trustworthy over the past couple years you understand. And don't think of telling Mike either, he wouldn't dare hide anything serious from Jazz now, he blames himself for the whole pill incident and won't keep a secret he thinks will end up killing me."

Sam stared at the now neurotic Danny but was amazed at how lively he was, she hadn't seen him so animated since they were maybe fourteen. "So what do you propose we do then?"

"We don't tell anyone, not a soul. This is our secret." He concluded.

Sam looked at him warily. "I don't know Danny...I feel like this is the sort of thing you tell people about. You know, seeing as how your life is potentially in danger and all." A hint of sarcasm shone through in her worried sentiments.

Danny sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. He paused and locked eyes with her. "Do you trust me?"

"What?"

"Do you trust me?" He repeated this time more pronounced and urging.

She hesitated and stared into his serious eyes. "Yes." She responded weakly.

"Then you have to be with me on this Sam. It's gotta be our secret, if you trust me then you're with me. Promise me?"

Se nodded and slowly broke out of the trance like shock the recent events had put her in. "Okay, I promise, it's our secret." She stopped and looked at her watch. "Come on, we better get back, Jazz is in a frenzy and I'm supposed to bring you directly back if I find you. They're both looking so let's go home."

Danny nodded and followed the girl up the stairs and out of the house not even looking back at the ominous portal that had swallowed him whole.

---

Danny had been surprised he hadn't had a stern talking to the moment he returned home, instead Jazz cried Mike sighed, and they both hugged him. Sam was sent home and then he figured he'd get a talking to but still there was nothing. He hadn't meant to run off like that but everything had happened so quickly that he hadn't been sure what to do with his misplaced sense of self. Running was the only thing that made sense at the time especially considering he'd already ended up on the first floor through sheer will power.

Sam was not around as much as he had hoped but mostly because she and Jazz had had it out over whether or not she was a good influence or not. It wasn't that Jazz had banned the girl from the house, she was still welcome, it was that Sam hated conflict. She especially hated conflict that questioned her character. She had made mistakes in the past but she'd be damned if she'd be condemned for trying to be better.

Danny tried to act normal but it was getting increasingly hard considering this new talent he'd gained. When Sam was over she'd help him explore it. So far he'd mastered transforming at will, which was a little more than terrifying. Sometimes he'd nearly fall to his knees when he realized what he was doing. Killing himself over and over, swinging back and fourth between life and death without even breaking a sweat.

Walking down the street Danny checked the list of errands Jazz had given him. Since it was a rather boring day he had begged her to let him go out and do something and so she finally agreed to let him pick up a few things she needed. It wasn't a very good day, there was a gray overcast and though winter was giving way to spring it was still cold. Thoughts drifted through the boy's head as he walked along the street, everything was changing so fast he hardly had time to process anything.

Danny was well aware he'd been slowly making them less and less a part of his life as the weeks drifted on. Hell they weren't even important to his survival anymore. It'd been a little over a month since the last time he'd fallen into one of those miserable episodes, Jazz even stopped hooking him up to the pulse oximeter, at the discretions of his doctors.

He seemed to be overcoming his sickness to everyone's amazement. It never made any sense though, what had changed since his last trip to the hospital? Danny was starting to wonder if it had anything to do with his new trick.

Sam kept saying his new vitality came from using his 'powers' as she liked to refer to them as. Danny didn't want to believe it because that seemed implausible. Today marked the sixth day he hadn't turned into his white haired alternative self. Today marked the sixth day he was starting to feel unable to breathe easy.

In fact now he began feeling light-headed from too much exertion and was significantly weak. He'd blacked out once, unknown to Jazz and Mike's knowledge, and Sam had begged him to 'go ghost', as she called it, just to prove her point. She asserted it would make him better that four weeks of impeccable health and four weeks since he unlocked and used his new talent was not just a coincidence.

Still Danny refused to believe her and was testing her theory just to prove she was wrong. Maybe making his point wasn't such a good idea.

While walking along Danny became too engrossed in his own notions that he didn't even see that he was on a collision course. He wasn't knocked over but he was definitely knocked backwards blinking and muttering an apology he looked up to see the person he'd just hit into.

"Dad..." Danny gasped his chest tightened at the sight of the man and he had to lean against the wall to hold himself up.

The dark blue eyes mirrored his son's perfectly in the shock and uncertainty. "Danny, you're alive?"

The question nearly knocked him out. "I guess I am." He responded almost too casually this meeting was throwing him for a loop, he never thought he'd see his parents again let alone converse with one of them as though they were old co-workers chancing a meeting on the street.

"That's good to see son, your mother will be happy to know that." Jack added he wasn't really sure what else he could possibly say to the boy he'd abandoned and had ultimately accepted as dead. The guilt ate at him everyday but he always found comfort in never having to see those baby-blues again.

"Dad." Danny breathed and slid down to the ground weakly. The father reacted immediately and appropriately by kneeling beside the boy and putting a worried hand on him.

"Danny, Danny-boy are you alright, do you need to get to a hospital?" He asked quickly unable to ignore the paternal sting.

"No." The boy responded. "Dad...Dad I- Why'd you leave us, why'd you leave me? I needed you both and you left Dad...Mom too. Why couldn't you stay?" He whimpered and hid his face trying to gain control of his erratic breathing.

Jack was completely caught off guard though not surprised, he'd expected to be asked this if he ever saw his children again but he wasn't sure how to answer. "You look weak, let me take you home."

"No." Danny responded harshly then felt his resistance break. "No...dad please don't, just tell me why. Just talk to me please." He pleaded.

"Your sister would kill me."

Danny grabbed his father's arm. "She doesn't have to know, just talk to me for a little bit, you don't have to come back and take care of me and you don't have to ever see me again. Just talk to me for a little today. Please dad?"

Jack sighed, he'd grown jaded over the years and had really collapsed emotionally and changed considerably but seeing his son begging him for some connection tore him apart. How could he deny him such a request, he couldn't. "Okay, but let's get you to a place where you can rest and not lay in the street." He gently hoisted Danny up to his feet and led him to his car gingerly.

Danny sat quietly in the passenger's seat of the old pick-up truck, so many questions buzzed in his mind, but he knew he'd have to pick and choose what to ask if he expected answers. He couldn't ignore the one burning question in his head. "Do you still love me dad?"

The old man sat in the seat and stared out the windshield avoiding eye-contact or even looking at the sickly boy. "Of course I do Danny."

Danny nodded quietly. "Then why'd you leave me?"

"I don't know son."

"I see. Do you ever want to be my dad again?"

"Don't think I could."

Danny nodded solemnly averting his eyes.

Upon hearing that the boy realized he didn't want to know what his parents were doing now. He didn't want to know their reason for leaving as he knew they'd still be unjustified in their self-righteous reasoning. He didn't want to know what his father was doing in Amity Park. And more importantly he didn't want his father to know the way he felt about anything.

There was something he wanted to know and finally the conversation he'd had with Sam earlier in the week came to him. He'd had no basis to go on before but now that he was with his father, his father who was a scientist, he might have some logic to go on. She had to be wrong but maybe she was right.

"Dad?" The old man looked at his son with tired eyes. "Remember how the ectoplasm in my system is the reason for my sickness, you know due to the whole ectoplasmic energy radiation thing?"

"How could I possibly forget?" Jack returned bitterly.

"Well I was thinking, hypothetically, that if I found a way to regulate the ectoplasm in my system that it wouldn't be stagnant, then it would no longer erode my organic composition and make me...well better." Danny stated gesturing with his hands as he tried to form the words. He had masterfully put it in a scientific way instead of blurting by some form of magic he was a ghost and human at the same time.

"What do you mean Danny? Ectoplasm is an energy that manifests spectral likeness. The reason it attacks your system is because it can't use you...I'm not exactly sure how to word it. But well, spirits for example manifest with ectoplasm and use the energy as a consistent function, it needs to be used constantly." Jack paused and looked at the boy sitting next to him, the intrigued look on his face seemed to shock him in a way. Danny knew most of this by now, Jazz had all of his old notes on this subject and he knew Danny has seen them.

"When it isn't in use, like it isn't in you, it erodes or feeds upon the host's composition because it's an energy that is constantly in motion. Dormant ectoplasm is fatal to humans because it cannot exist as a dormant energy. So while it seems to be dormant in you, it really isn't because it's been degenerating your body in effort to manifest."

"I know all that." Jack wasn't surprised by the boy's outburst. "But what I'm saying is what _if _I, a human, found a way to utilize the ectoplasm in me kind of like a ghost would... in theory?"

"If I'm getting this correct, then you're trying to ask if you could somehow feign a spectral imprint with the ectoplasm and be ghost-like. I mean I guess in theory it'd be a good way to trick the energy into being used for something other than destroying your organic being, but it's improbable. Implausible really, what you're proposing is a way to exist in a sort of half-life, using ectoplasmic energy would literally be like becoming a ghost, think of it as intentionally shutting down your body ripping the spirit from it."

"What if I found a way to...switch from human to ghost as a way to stave off the ectoplasmic build-ups that usually put me in the hospital?"

Jack laughed with a sort of humorless chuckle. "Kiddo you're asking if you can switch between being alive and dead at the same time. There's no physical or logical way for you to exist as a human and a ghost."

Danny laughed a sort of nervous hollow laugh. "Yeah...I guess that does sound pretty stupid, huh?"

* * *

_I know I take long to update, I apologize. Not only am I busy half the time I'm also very finicky with the way it goes together. Hope you enjoy this chapter and I apperciate all you wonderful readers and your nice reviews that make it all worth it._


	14. Chapter 14

When Danny returned home late that afternoon Jazz was finding it hard to ignore the seemingly new chip on his shoulder. She only asked if he'd gotten the items she'd sent him off for and he gave her a slight nod before retreating towards his room. The girl had noticed that over the past few days he seemed to be off, for lack of better judgment. She was beginning to feel a small rift opening between them and she was unsure of how to bridge the gap.

He may have been doing better health wise but that didn't mean that his demeanor had improved. He was still moody and reserved but never had he shut her out before.

"Danny wait!" Her brother paused in the hallway and twisted his head around to look at her. "Are you alright?" The question was standard and simple but not too long ago it used to get a lot of honesty out of him.

"Feeling kinda tired, gonna lay down." He responded in a lackluster tone and with that he disappeared into his room.

She frowned hearing his door slam closed. She couldn't help but feel shut down, he hadn't even bothered to form complete sentences. Danny used to tell Jazz everything but now he couldn't seem to look her in the eye. If he wasn't out with Sam he was locked in his room as though he were hiding from her. The older sister sighed as began unpacking the paper bags he'd brought home.

Maybe he just had some more adjusting to make that's all he ever seemed to have to do.

Danny lied on his bed in exhaustion, going out had probably been a bad idea concerning his health. This experiment, he realized, was dangerous but he was determined to prove to Sam that he didn't need to be dependent on his freak abilities. The unpleasant talk he'd had with his father was discouraging, not even Jack Fenton thought it was possible that anything could stop the degeneration.

So maybe the past month or so had been a fluke, maybe his ability to change between living and dead wasn't really that at all. And maybe it had nothing to do with his improved health, maybe the ectoplasmic energy was just working it's way around. He wasn't sure what was happening to him. Though what he was sure of was that six days without transforming had left him considerably weakened.

Still it wasn't enough proof to validate Sam's theory. He'd need to go into another "episode" at some point before she could be considered right. Every so often he'd receive a message from the girl asking how he was doing though she was too busy to come see for herself today. He'd usually reply with a half-lie that he was fine and then he'd jokingly chastise her for using her phone at work.

She must've noticed the other day his vitality was declining; she was trying to get him to admit he was doing worse. He didn't want to admit anything especially since the idea scared him to death. He never wanted to be that sick again. Danny lay back against his pillow to stare at the ceiling and he took a deep breath. It hurt to do so but he ignored it while his mind was off reeling on other matters.

He was still trying to grasp his father's words. The man said he loved him but then right after admitted he couldn't be his father, as though that were a choice. Danny may not have been in a real family but when Jazz or Mike told him they loved him they meant it. When they said it they were telling him that no matter what they'd be there. He couldn't understand how his father or maybe even his mother could sit there and think that they loved their son if they couldn't care for him in the worst of times.

He snorted at the notion. If they couldn't be there for the worst of times he figured they didn't deserve to be there at the best of times. They'd just have to miss out and he decided finally that he wouldn't look for them. If he chanced a meeting again like that he vowed to tell which ever one he saw that they were unwelcome in his life. He finally grasped that anger Jazz had felt against them, he finally understood why she made sure they never came back into his life.

In fact somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he hadn't yet grasped the many things his sister had done to make things easier for him.

Danny nudged his head against the pillow either it wasn't comfortable enough or he was feeling worse. He really hated to admit that it was the latter. As time passed he was feeling less and less lively and more and more like he used to, before his change. He didn't like it but nothing could seem to keep his mind off that creeping fact.

Not the occasional texts with Sam, not a book he'd been trying to get through, and not soft background music. Nothing. His thoughts were broken as he heard a knocking at his door.

"Danny?" It was Jazz; she opened the door halfway and peeked in. "How are you doing? I brought you dinner."

He flopped over onto his back and waved his hand off. "I'm not hungry." He murmured feeling sicker and sicker as the moments passed. Maybe tempting fate wasn't such a good idea after all.

"Oh." She meekly sighed. "Can we have a talk?" She asked stepping in and setting the plate of food down on his desk.

He sat upright and shrugged as she came forward to sit beside him. "I'm worried about you." The redhead started softly while placing her hand on his.

His almost blank expression changed to a cynical smile. "What else is new?"

She gave him an exasperated look. "Please Danny, I'm trying to be serious. Look I've tried overlooking your new habits because I know you've been doing so well health-wise and are probably excited to be able to live life. But I can't anymore, you've been distant, you spend all your time with Sam doing God-knows-what, you're jumpy and clumsy and you seem paranoid."

"What are you trying to say?" Danny questioned defensively while crossing his arm.

Jazz took a breath and looked him in the eyes. "Danny I don't know what's gotten into you but I'm starting to get an idea. I mean with Sam's past and all-"

"You think I'm a drug addict?!" He exclaimed as he rocketed off the bed. "How stupid do you think I am? Jazz I can't believe you'd think so little of me."

"Can you blame me? " She retorted. "You don't talk to me anymore, you're always acting like you have something to hide. Even Mike was starting to notice you're behavior. He used to do that stuff so he would recognize the patterns and drug use is pretty prevelant for people with suicidal tendencies. Besides Danny you're a teenage boy it's very easy to be taken in by a girl and-"

"You make me sick. You guys are against me, you don't trust anyone. Sam's my only friend and she'd never do that to me." Danny growled as he paced between the room getting noticeably more flustered.

"I don't know that. You owe me an explanation Danny. Ever since that night you ran away you haven't been yourself, you're secretive and sketchy and you never give me or Mike the time of day." She produced her exhaustive litany while tapping her foot on the ground watching him move back in forth. "What's happened to you?"

"Nothing. Jazz it's not what you think, maybe I_ have_ changed. So what? People change all the time." He was starting to regret getting so worked up over the matter because now he was becoming nauseas. His head was light and little white spots were dancing in and out of his line of vision. "Why can't you just trust me Jazz?" He asked his voice losing most of it's momentum and impact.

"I've worked very hard to care for you and I want to trust you little brother-" She paused and noticed how pale her brother was becoming. "Danny are you okay?" She questioned immediately getting to her feet to stand beside him.

She was at his side in a second and was now grasping his shoulders to make sure he didn't fall over. He swayed slightly struggling to keep his knees straight. "I'm fine Jazz." He responded softly trying to shake her off but lacking the composure and strength to do so. His head spun as the air in the room seemed to thin.

She held onto him tighter feeling his weight slowly starting to lean against her. "Danny, listen to me, I want to help you. But you have to stop lying to me. I need the truth." The worried sister coaxed.

"Alright." He gasped and let his knees buckle. She guided his fall using her body as a crutch so she could bring him gently to the floor where he laid against her side struggling to breathe. "The truth is I'm not feeling so great."

She gritted her teeth and beheld him miserably. Her grasp on him grew tighter and tighter as she watched his sides heave with the effort of taking in oxygen. She'd seen him like this before many times, but he was supposed to be better now. He'd finally been healthy and, as far as she could see, relatively happy. Her stomach knotted with displeasure and her heart sunk, this wasn't supposed to happen anymore. She didn't want him to fall into this tired old routine, not again.

Carefully she managed to lay him on the floor. "Don't worry Danny; you're going to be okay." Jazz urged as she kicked the old emergency kit out from under his bed and pushed it within arm's reach, her method for not wanting to leave his side. As she dug through for supplies she felt his hand squeeze her leg to get her attention. She turned her head to look into clouded blue eyes.

"Hey..." He rasped with a half smile to cover the pain. "Tell Sam...she was right."

Considering the circumstances everything went smoothly and Jazz was even able to put him in his bed. He was unconscious now and she hated to do so but she had to pull out that stupid machine. She'd stored it in his closet in the false hope that maybe those days were over. Sighing she finally had him all set and she stood over his bed with her arms folded nervously.

She wouldn't have fought with him if she'd thought for even a second that he was that sick. In fact she'd noticed he'd been a little off but she'd only figured he was catching a cold or the flu. She stared at the glow given off by the oximeter machine it showed his heart rate was down, not dramatically, but still enough for her to notice. It did very little to make her feel any better she bit her lip and went to sit beside him. Gently she ruffled his hair out of habit, she watched his face and saw no reaction so she figured he'd be out for a few hours.

"I'm so sorry Danny." She was blaming herself, she knew the fight was stupid and necessary. She could've approached the situation much more delicately then she did. She could've even made sure he was doing alright before she even started the whole discussion. Jazz couldn't help but feel that she had put him under too much stress at a time where he couldn't handle it.

She couldn't shake the idea that he could've died and one of the last things she did was accuse him of being a degenerate. She was supposed to be the adult and she was supposed to look out for him and be the level-headed one. She was supposed to love him and trust him. Jazz cringed as more and more self-berating thoughts entered her head. She was supposed to do a lot of things but apparently she couldn't always be as perfect as she hoped.

Her self-pity was broken at the sound of someone at her door. She hated to leave him right now but she figured it'd only be a moment and he'd be the same whether or not she was there. As she opened the door she saw a rather jovial looking teenager on the other side. Sam Manson still in her work uniform holding a Nasty Shake.

"Hi Jazz, mind if I bother Danny? He said he hadn't been able to eat all day so I thought I'd force feed him this shake." She said with a grin while giving the cup a little shake.

Jazz blinked in surprise she hadn't been aware of how much the two friends talked, apparently a lot. "That's very sweet of you Sam but..."

"But?" Sam urged her expression slowly fading.

Jazz shook at her head at the girl she almost hated to see that smile go. She may have had her doubts about Sam's conduct but she knew the teen's intentions were geniune. "But, you see, he had an episode only moments ago. He isn't awake and might not be for a while. I just don't know what happened he'd been doing so well..."

Sam's face fell and she looked up to the red-headed girl with a sympathetic frown. "Can I see him?"

"He might not wake up for a while." Jazz explained warily but Sam was already in the doorway and she felt bad for not inviting her in already. "But if you want to wait..."

"I do." Sam stated with a certainty that almost seemed as though she had been waiting for this to happen. Jazz complied and let Sam in and the raven haired girl in a Nasty Burger uniform was on her way to her brother's door.

"Hey Sam," Jazz called as she caught up with her. Sam turned and looked at her waiting expectantly. "He wanted me to tell you something. He said you're right. Does that means anything to you?"

A slight smile crept onto the younger girl's face and she nodded.

While Sam waited Jazz would come in and out of the room and try to pry information out of the girl. She at first tried to get some explanation for why Danny has been so distant but received only a shrug she then tried for what his message to her meant. Sam tried to convince Jazz that it really wasn't as important or cryptic as she thought it was.

Finally when Danny opened his eyes he looked around and found a pale girl with violet eyes smiling. "Sam..?" He rasped and was met with a harsh punch to his shoulder. "Ow what was that for?" The punch effectively pulled him out of his haze.

"You idiot, I told you so." She said and folded her arms across her chest and gave him a glare.

Danny rubbed his arm and shot her a look. "You could be more sympathetic, or at least less violent, I almost died you know." He stated giving her an ironic look.

"Yes I know, Jazz told me all about it. This never would've happened if you had just listened to me in the first place." She pointed out with a cocky tone. "But _no_, Danny Fenton always has to tempt fate, always has to prove a point." She sent him a look with her eyebrow quirked.

Danny sighed and tried to adjust himself so he could sit a little more upright. "I know that Sam, you're right, I'm wrong. It was stupid and childish of me to do something so dangerous. And I'm sorry."

Sam's face softened. "I'm not _that_ mad Danny." She said with almost a guilty tone and she grabbed his hand gently. "I just don't want to be right when it means you could lose your life."

He smiled at her and they locked eyes for what could have been hours. Danny remembered in that moment why it had crushed him so terribly when she'd abandoned him, the memories came flooding back, and he could've cried at how overwhelming it all was. Her opinion of him mattered again and he'd only wished he'd listened to her in the first place or that he'd never reattached himself to her.

Sam inconspicuously released his hand at the sight of his sister entering the room, she staved off a blush for having held his hand for too long. "Is everything alright?" She asked and smiled at Danny. "How are you feeling little brother?"

"Hey is he awake?" Mike asked just as he popped his head in the door. "There's our guy." The older boy announced as he walked in the door.

"Mike when did you get here? I thought you wouldn't be home till late."

"I got home a while ago, you've been out for hours there kiddo."

He wanted to be surprised but in a way he wasn't. "Hours?"

Danny got himself upright and looked at them and almost felt embarrassed. He had just been getting used to not having to deal with this sort of attention and worry that he never liked. He guessed this is what it felt like for a normal person if they ended up in a hospital and the idea of just that was a painful reminder. He was far from normal and having the ectoplasm overtake him was just another sign.

His mind snapped back his green eyed white haired self, his possible ghost. He was so abnormal he needed that half to avoid this sort of thing. While he was surrounded by the people who loved him he was seized by a terrifying thought that they would never comprehend. If he didn't keep his alternative identity in check it may very well become his only identity.

Dying might be the only thing that could keep him alive.

--

Jazz had wanted Danny to see a doctor she'd begged and pleaded that he go for just one check-up but he refused. There was nothing they could do that would do him any good. He wasn't sure how to explain it to Jazz so he just went with the argument that they'd never fixed him in the past. They still didn't know what was completely wrong with him but now he did. Or at least he had a good idea of what was wrong.

There was a torrent of guilt involved with not letting Jazz know what he and Sam had begun piecing together. He knew his sister would lose sleep over his affliction but he knew she'd be far more disturbed to know the truth. The truth didn't make sense and it wasn't a very nice one either and that was the excuse he used to ease his guilt. He wanted her to know but only when he was sure she was ready and he had a far more complex understanding of what he was.

It took him nearly a week to convince her that he was fine and to assure her that he would be. Thus everyday he and Sam explored his powers, she with intrigue and wonder, and him with fear and contempt.

Danny was discovering there was more to what he was then just an appearance change and it was more than a little unnerving. Little by little he found new abilities that were both strange and powerful. Some days when he thought about it he couldn't help but loathe the familiar stranger in the mirror with the dead green eyes.

"So are you going to do it?" Sam asked with joyful anticipation breaking him of his thoughts.

"Do what?" He returned looking at the pretty girl opposite to him. He forgot that she liked this sort of thing whereas he'd tried to get away with doing as little as possible to feed the need of the infestation of energy within him.

She grinned. "The ectoplasmic ball thingy? Come on Danny, the rays are impressive and all, but do something more advanced. You've got ghost powers, so use them." She urged walking over to the taller boy.

He rolled his green eyes. "Sam, I do not have ghost powers. Think of it as a... genetic mutation. Besides these abilities are creepy why would I _want_ to advance them?" He'd still seen no sign of ghosts that had him believing that he was one of them. He could agree that he was ghost-like in the respect he was lacking a pulse and used ectoplasmic energy, the supposed stuff of phantoms.

She shrugged and walked around him seemingly inspecting him. "Well there's a connection you know." He quirked an eyebrow in response. "A connection between you using this and not having respiratory failure fits. Don't you see? You transforming into this-"

"Phantom." He interjected firmly.

"Excuse me?"

"I want to be called Phantom when I'm like this." Danny stated calmly.

She smirked at him and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "It's the same thing as admitting you're a ghost you know?"

"It's not." He protested shaking his head firmly. "It's like a incognito name, a nickname, or what have you. Just because I'm called Phantom doesn't mean I'm a ghost. Wolverine isn't actually a wolverine; he just likens his abilities toward the animal."

Sam responded with a snort and a laugh. "Alright X-man, I'll level with you." She agreed still trying to hide her amusement.

"That doesn't matter but you are right about one thing. I do need to use these powers in order to survive." He stated and looked at the violet eyed girl. She smirked in satisfaction upon hearing him admit once again she was right.

He hadn't believed her and she took great joy in being able to say rub his smug little face in it. "I'm glad you're starting to realize I am always right."

He simply rolled his eyes at her grabbed her hand and phased through the building. He materialized them on the ground outside the apartments in the side alley so they wouldn't be notice. He was sure regardless of how witty Sam was that she could explain to anyone just how herself and a glowing boy appeared out of thin air.

"Could you warn me before you do that?" She requested harshly yanking her hand away shaking off a shiver up her spine. "I'll never get used to the way that feels. Where are we going anyway?"

"Even if no one is home I'm not using these powers in the house. It's dangerous." He explained in a serious tone.

"Dangerous?" She repeated in amusement. Sometimes the girl would laugh whenever he was taking the world too seriously. She wanted him to embrace life and his new attributes not weight everything with fear and caution.

He shivered in response and Sam watched as an almost transparent fog floated away from his mouth. It looked as if the air was cold but with the approach of spring it really wasn't that chilly, especially today in the mid-afternoon sunshine. She cocked her head in interest but he was silent and walked towards the back of the alley he'd brought them to his eyes darting about.

"What was that? Has that always happened?" She queried as usual.

She always had him explain things in the hopes she could provide him with a different perspective on what he was able to do. Though the constant questioning could be a bit annoying he invited it as some of his abilities terrified him. He didn't always understand them and it was shocking when she seemed to have an understanding.

He looked at her with guarded green eyes. "Since I was fourteen. I usually hear something after like a voice or something moving. It's usually cold can you feel it?"

"Only a little." She responded quietly. "Wait this has happened since you were fourteen? Like post-lab accident?" He nodded, "So what is it?"

He shook his head and looked around. The sensation grew his muscles tightened up and his undead flesh tingled with energy and anticipation, he could smell something starting. Danny's eyes flickered back and fourth in the alley, then there it was, a bright flash of something green. It hit him first and it hurt, he thought he'd transcended that. It was a different sort of pain then anything he'd ever felt as a human, it stung him like a burning electricity, it seared from the inside out.

He immediately forgot his pain when he heard Sam scream.

Whipping his head around he saw a long tentacle holding the frantic girl around the waist. He could still see her waist through the creature's almost translucent limb. His eyes flashed a dangerous shade of plutonium green and his teeth came down on each other in a hard growl. A possessive and animalistic urge over took him and he charged forward.

He wasn't completely sure why he was attacking except he sensed the malevolence in the creature and knew it had to be destroyed. At that moment he wanted nothing malevolent threatening _his_ town and _his _Sam. He had the power he could destroy it, it admitted an energy he could taste, it was weaker than him. And he wanted it gone.

It looked like an octopus at least it did when he started the fight. But as the battle progressed he began throwing out moves he wasn't sure he even knew he had. Had he not been lost in the sensation of destruction and energy he might've calculated that the creature still had Sam and she might be hurt with all his aggression.

A few of the tentacles were dismembered in his attacks including the one that held Sam. He hadn't realized it detached, in fact in his protecting of Sam he'd forgotten that he was being too violent and she was in a terrible place.

Sam yelped as she went plummeting to the ground with the detached tentacle gripping her. The sound perked up the strange glowing boy and he made a dodge after her. Luckily the fall wasn't very far so when she did hit the ground the impact wasn't so large that she was injured. The dripping destroyed looking octopus torso fell to the ground and disappeared and so did the tentacle holding Sam.

Danny landed beside her with a guilty look for having been too late to stop her fall. "Sam! Are you alright? I...I didn't know what I was doing. I should've caught you. Damn it, what have I done I-"

She stood up and put a hand over his mouth to hush him. "It's alright." She said with a quivering voice having been a little shaken up by the surprise attack. "Still don't believe in ghosts?" She asked while brushing herself off as though he'd finally been exposed to the universal truth she'd known all along.

He blinked at her wordless but still full of apologies that he wanted her to hear. He'd never done anything like that before and the notion was gripping him with a new fear. He hadn't understood why he attacked that creature, that ghost, except that he'd been consumed with the overwhelming urge to do so. He looked at her in quiet desperation for any substance anything at all.

Sam grinned at him her amethyst eyes twinkling. "I like it." She stated nodding not at all quelling his frustration and confusion. "So…Danny Phantom, it has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

* * *

_Trust me the good stuff is coming, can you taste that? It's delicious plot thickening. _


	15. Chapter 15

"What are we doing here?" Sam questioned releasing Danny's hand and observed the lab they were standing in.

"If we're going to fight and I can't believe I'm saying this, ghosts, then you're going to need protection. They're going to go after you if you're near me, they can sense it, so I want you to have something to level the field." Danny explained as he headed over to some old boxes filled with weapons his parents had designed.

"They may have been lousy parents but let's face it they were great scientists. Probably the most advanced in the paranormal field. They understood the complexities of things other scientists didn't even believe in. Hell they were right about the ghost zone." Danny added gesturing toward the portal.

Sam bent over a box and held up an item that looked like a thermos. "Did they hole up in here a lot?" She asked shaking it as though it might have the contents of something spoiled.

"I think that one's a weapon." Danny noted looking it over.

"Really?" Sam questioned quirking an eyebrow, she uncapped the top and peered into it. "What does it do?" She turned it over in her hands to inspect it.

"I'm not really sure. Don't point that thing at me; I don't want to be the one to find out."

"Relax." Sam urged. "I'm not gonna do anything. Though of course if we wanted to be sure any of these things work you'd be the one to test them on." She added with a devious grin making him back up.

"Hey, it's still murder." Danny protested as he made a grab for the thermos and yanked it out of her hands. "I'm already regretting the idea of equipping you with dangerous weapons."

"Come on that thermos can't be dangerous. And if it is, your parents have a sick sense of humor." Danny shrugged while Sam began rooting through a box and pulled out various weapons that resembled the stuff of super-science dreams.

If she didn't know better she'd swear she was looking through a box of props from a science fiction movie rather than real life weapons. She had to hand it to the Fenton's they were scientifically advanced and probably greater geniuses then anyone would give them credit for. When she remembered the way Amity received the family she recalled the way people scoffed at their findings and how science conventions would turn them away.

Now who was right? She found it a shame that such smart people would abandon their own son. They must've known something that the doctors and nurses would never know. She couldn't help but think that maybe they'd feared their son, like he was infected with an inevitable virus that would consume him. She shook her head, she didn't think his ghostly attributes would take him over, but it was a distinct possibility. The two friends had only breached the surface of just what this all was.

Sam tried to expel the new notions from her head. Everyone was sure the Fenton's abandoned Danny out of guilt, the guilt of knowing their obsession with their own work had very nearly killed their son. It had crippled him maybe not in the usual respect but he was subject to fits of lifelessness because of their machine. Because they had been unable to balance their family and their work, and in that aspect, they were unable to keep them separate.

Both Jack and Maddie had known that when Danny was overcome by the ectoplasmic energy that had seized him, that his death would be solely their responsibility. To them watching his struggle was the same was watching themselves slowly murder him.

Sam had almost been able to sympathize with them, for she too felt the crushing responsibility of Danny's affliction. Had she just stopped him, had she not encouraged him, Tucker suffered it as well. It almost felt like survivors guilt sometimes, she often wondered why she and Tucker hadn't been infected just a little. They were there when he was exposed to the radiation, so why didn't they absorb any?

She already knew the answer, she'd always known, Danny absorbed all the energy. In a way he'd saved them from the same fate, had he activated the portal from the outside, they may have all been exposed and facing other kinds of poisonings. Instead he got it full body from the inside, they always said he should've died.

Sam stopped her mindless sifting through the items and looked up at Danny. She liked it better when he stayed human, the ghost was cool, but she loved his blue eyes. She loved his disheveled onyx hair that always looked like organized chaos. The white and the green were not the things that comforted her with familiarity. She knew it was still Danny but she always had to remind herself that it was.

She smiled and returned to her search for something easily transportable and useful. Quietly she pulled out what looked like a journal she turned it over furrowing her brow. Without a second thought the girl opened it and noticed Maddie Fenton's neat handwriting dating back to the eighties. They were lab notes she was almost certain Jazz had gotten them all but these were old but they discussed the ghost portal. Not the same one Danny had encountered but apparently to her shock the Fenton's had been working on this project for decades. She scanned the pages quickly catching a few details.

"Hey Danny did you know your parents had another ghost portal?" Sam called and he looked at her with slight curiousity. "Listen to this, your mom talks about it, you weren't the first to learn first hand that ectoplasmic energy is real."

"I'm not?" He asked warily coming close so he could peek over her shoulder. The girl pulled out a few Polaroid's one showing a small portal like design sitting in what looked like a college lab and the other was of three friends two having very familiar faces. "Who's that guy?" Danny asked pointing to the less cheerful stranger with his youthful parents.

Sam shrugged. "I'm not really sure but something tells me he is one of your parents' victims." Danny gave her a sour face and stuck his tongue out at her. "Your mom writes a lot about him, they were in college, his name was Vlad Masters."

"_Was_?" Danny questioned stepping forward. "Is he dead?"

Sam leafed through the pages and shrugged. "No clue he could be now, though the name sounds familiar. It says here," She said pointing to the neatly presented page covered in cursive writing." He got a 'serious' case of something called ecto-acne." She continued scanning the page reading what was important. "He was hospitalized, it's never been seen before, and doctors tried treating it."

She came to the last page her violet eyes looked into Danny's for a moment. "She lost contact with him and doesn't know what became of him. She says the calculations were incorrect with the proto-portal which must've caused the accident. She vowed here in the last line she'd never let something like that happen again."

Danny scoffed rather bitterly while kicking his foot against the tiles. "He probably didn't end up like me..." Danny mused while taking the book from Sam. He ran his fingers over the wrinkled creamy pages some of the ink had been smudged and some of it had faded. He traced the loopy figures his mother had youthfully scrawled out long before he was even a thought. "He got sick but ectoplasm will do that to anyone, he probably recovered and moved on."

Sam bit her lip seeing the strange glassy reflection in his eyes. She shifted her weight from foot to foot in a nervous habit. "How can you be sure?"

He looked up at her broken now from his trance that had been holding him between the pages. "I can't." Danny stated simply. "I'm just hoping there's no one else like me." Sam opened her mouth to say something but he interrupted her pushing the journal back into her hands. "I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy."

The girl was silent as he turned to continue rummaging through the boxes on the other side of the room. She frowned and looked around the lab and made her way to the counter to see if anything was still in the cabinets. The Fenton's hadn't bothered to take much when they left. Beakers still were standing dusty and forgotten while others lay in pieces having been broken and never disposed of. Sam opened the cabinets and coughed as a cloud of dust seemed to shoot forward.

She tried with all her might to forget the look in Danny's eyes or the sound in his voice. She was starting to feel guilty about even thinking his powers were in any way cool or amazing. He obviously disliked them and she wished he'd give her a better reason why. Just so she could understand him or help him.

Of course he had agreed to take her help, that's why they were here after all. This was his way of asking her for help by arming her with weapons so she could fight by his side. She wouldn't be a worry for him but a dependent, someone he could count on who could aid in defending against enemies. Maybe even protect him from time to time. The more she realized what using these powers to fight meant the more she realized it wasn't going to be smooth.

Sam broke from her worries when she heard a strange snapping sound and a bright light seemed to explode from one of the boxes. The first thing that came to mind was Danny had accidentally activated a weapon and shot himself, it may have been a discomfort to humans but Danny wasn't just a human.

"What the-" She turned to seem him on the opposite of the lab knocked back and propping himself up on his elbows. A strange feeling of bewilderment and relief washed over her.

"I am the Box Ghost!" The blue pudgy strange and now visible man shouted thrusting his arms upward. "And you have disturbed my cubical containers! Now you shall face the wrath of the Box Ghost!"

"My life is a joke, it's one big joke." Danny groaned as he stood up rather calm in the face of yet another ghost.

This struck Sam as odd with the octopus creature he was violent and protective but now he looked almost bored. He wasn't threatened but she wasn't sure how he could tell the difference between the threats. She stopped her observation the second a flying box whacked into her pushing her backwards into the cluster of other boxes behind her. She landed on them with a light 'oof' and frowned at the small discomfort.

"Could you cut that out?" Danny asked tired and annoyed at the ghost's attempt to be sinister.

"Human! You think you can stop me the Box Ghost! You have no idea of the inter-dimensional power I hold against you, a puny mortal!" He shouted while summoning a box above his head through the force of his own energy.

Danny blinked and simply let his own energy envelope him in a bright ball of light that uncomfortably spread in two different ways to consume his human body and replace with something similar and yet so different. The opponent was immediately halted at the sight of the boy's new form. "Another!" He exclaimed fear seemed to be written across his dead face.

He conjured up more boxes and threw them forcefully and aggressively at Danny. The ghost's frantic attack was not lost on Danny but not thinking straight he didn't avoid the onslaught of boxes he'd thrown. They landed on him with a heavy crash and he struggled beneath them in a daze still not comprehending what was happening.

"Danny pay attention!" Sam shouted and he shook his head ignoring the fact that some of the things inside the boxes had given them substantial weight. He dematerialized from beneath them and floated above the pile to face the ghost.

The girl scrambled from the boxes but haphazardly lost her footing over a cylinder. After pulling herself up from the floor she clutched the item and realized it was that thermos they'd been looking at. The room was filled with weapons but as she found herself staring at the thermos as she noticed a switch-like button.

"Would you quit it!" Danny shouted as another box aimed for his head came at him. He growled and shot his own energy out at the imposing creature. His frustration was now something tangible which was both cathartic and nerve-wracking, it wouldn't always be as helpful as it was now and he made a note of it.

He dodged another box while another seemed to come from behind. Sometimes the way the boxes landed was too violent and the weapons inside would be set off, making a consistent intangible act beneficial to protecting himself, but not to getting rid of the intruder. "Taste this perfectly cubed containment device!"

Danny groaned he was in no mood for something this ridiculous. He was still in shock over earlier today where he fought his first foe, that ghost, the one he obliterated. He hadn't liked doing that. When he defeated it he'd absorbed its second death. Danny had casually decided not to tell Sam about what he'd felt when he'd destroyed it, it released an essence and he'd enjoyed it with a sick sort of pleasure that made his human half tremble. Ghosts really did thrive off energy it was the purpose of their existence and therefore a partial necessity to his, no matter how horrible.

Danny geared up a powerful blast his patience cutting short with the pudgy dead man who clearly hadn't a clue. With a reluctant pause he aimed and was about to release the ecto-orb when the ghost was caught in a blue beam and immediately pulled from his place mid-air. Danny's eyes followed the beam that had somehow ensnared the Box Ghost, to Sam's hands. She was holding that stupid thermos and it worked in a manner he'd never expected.

She put the cap on and stared at the cylinder with a sort of awe and gave it a shake. A muffled 'beware' sounded from inside signifying that it hadn't destroyed the ghost but effectively trapped it. Relief washed over him for a moment as he'd dreaded having to destroy that obnoxious but mostly harmless ghost.

"Well that was...unexpected." Sam announced holding out the thermos to her chilling friend, his green eyes examined it thoroughly and curiously.

"You should keep that with you. Could come in handy, that's what we came for." He finally announced and shrugged. "Might wanna find a weapon too."

Sam blinked at how nonchalant he was acting; surely he was stunned at what a thermos just did to a ghost. She inwardly groaned at the confusion batting around her head, she had to wonder if perhaps this were all some crazy dream. Ghosts, ghost catching thermoses, her best friend being a ghost fighting ghost himself. It couldn't have been real. Nothing this absurd exists in the world and yet there he was.

"What should we do about this guy?" Sam asked slowly coming to her senses.

Danny scratched his neck not considering the capacity and how useless it may be to carry a thermos crammed with others. She gave him a bemused grin and he looked around the lab and noticed the portal still open and glowing. "I guess we should send him back. It's only fair...I mean, well I don't want to destroy him, he seems harmless and almost clueless." He said gesturing his hands toward the portal to convey his idea.

Sam walked forward gripping the thermos close to her. "You have a point, if we're going to take up ghost hunting..." She paused seeing him wince at the idea. It was the same trade his parents had aspired to be, ghost hunters and inventors. "We ought to be humane and treat them with dignity. I can't help but feel this Box Ghost was a person once like us."

Danny nodded lightly. "He was Sam, they all were someone once...He seems pretty two dimensional but I'm sure we'll encounter more with different stories, more complex, it's not going to be easy."

She looked at him with a sad wondering; she'd nearly forgotten what ghosts were. They weren't just manifestations of ectoplasm with human imprinting. Ghosts only came into existence when they aren't ready to be dead but are anyway.

She uneasily released the ghost directly into the portal and Danny promptly closed it. She found herself watching his eyes as the swirling inter-dimensional gateway closed, those eyes were eerily similar to the portal itself. A mystery of another world was locked behind them all the sadness and all the pain of death present in a soul still alive. For a moment Sam was unsure about what they were getting into, what he was getting into, and whether or not they were in any control.

--

The days passed and Danny became less frequent at home finding more urgent places to be. Although the small family he did noted his absence bitterly, this was different than anything they were accustomed to. When he wasn't home it used to be he was in the hospital now when he wasn't home they didn't know where he was. Of course Danny would never tell them where he went as he hardly knew where he'd be.

"What do I do about him Mike?" Jazz asked quietly while sitting at their kitchen table her laptop open a coffee mug half empty sitting beside it.

Since Danny's health had improved she'd been given valuable time to work on her schoolwork. That didn't necessarily mean that she'd gained control of her chaotic thoughts. She was at a loss with him, no longer feeling connected or even relevant. She ran her finger around the rim of her mug and let loose a pent up sigh. Another night and Danny didn't come home for dinner and hadn't for the past few weeks and when he did come home he wasn't communicative.

She couldn't even look at him without him getting antsy and defensive. A new trend she'd been noticing were minor injuries and nearly the same excuse about being clumsy or oblivious to surroundings. She wasn't buying it anymore but wasn't sure what to do about it, she wasn't his mother, she was his sister. She chewed her lip realizing in a way she'd taken the role of his mother but had no parental control and even less respect than if he were his mother.

Older siblings are either a partner in crime or a nosey nuisance and though she longed to be the former she couldn't. Ever since her parents had left him for dead she took on the responsibility of raising him but as things shifted she was losing her grip. Somewhere along the way he stopped trusting her with his secrets, he stopped needing her support, and started pushing her away.

Mike rubbed her shoulders and she stopped fiddling but she kept her slumping posture. "He's a teenager and you're the adult-figure in his life, he's going to distance himself. Danny's experiencing something he was robbed of, his teenaged years. He's supposed to be angsty and rebellious all you can do is be there for him when he accepts your help."

"I know it's just...I can't help but feel he and I should be friends. I am not our mother and I'd like to think he doesn't see me as her."

"Of course not, you're much better than your mother ever was and I know he appreciates it." The boy offered optimistically. "He doesn't hate you he just wants freedom."

Jazz nodded sluggishly reluctant to agree with him. "I don't like what I'm seeing in him. Is he getting into fights? Why is he constantly with Sam? I worry she's putting him in risky situations. We didn't fight for so long for him to throw it all away."

"I don't think he'd do that." Her boyfriend urged and draped his arms over her shoulders. She smiled enjoying the affection he gave her and gave him a nudge. He leaned in to give her a kiss and the redhead obliged happily but they both halted abruptly at the sound of the door slamming shut.

Danny was home, a little earlier than expected, and as they both caught sight of him heading down the hall they were unable to ignore one huge detail. His white shirt was stained on the left shoulder with fresh blood. Jazz pushed her chair back and Mike lead the way as the two young adults moved to confront and aid their young ward.

"Danny." Jazz called before he was able to the shut the door she saw his face fall he knew he was caught. "Where are you going?" He gritted his teeth and tried to move his body at angle to hide the injury but it was too late.

The young woman reached him and grabbed his wrist before he was able to retreat behind the door. "Danny, what happened are you okay?" She felt like she'd trapped an animal from the look he was giving her but she couldn't let him go. Her eyes fell on the wound and observed the magnitude of the tear and the blood that was still seeping from a rather large gash. Stitches, she thought, he would need them.

"I'm fine. It's nothing just a scratch." The boy urged. Slowly prying his hand from his sister's death grip but her eyes were locked on the injury and she wasn't going to let it go.

"Don't lie to us Danny." Shocked blue eyes trailed up to the voice's owner. He hadn't expected that from Mike, in fact even Jazz looked a little thrown by the sudden demand.

Immediately the teenager recovered and flashed the older male a warning glare. "I'm clumsy. I run into things it's no big deal." He stated in harsh defined words.

"It looks like it was made by a blade." Mike observed just as equally aggravated. "I could overlook your infrequency and I could even understand your anti-social behavior. But now, now it looks like those were mistakes because you're getting into something you shouldn't. If you tell the truth now things will be easier."

Danny kept his eyes steady and his face stern and unmoving. Mike never raised his voice nor threatened discipline he didn't ever feel right in doing it and it really wasn't his style. Something must've snapped in him but Danny wasn't near ready enough to forfeit the truth to satiate his unhappy sister and potential brother. Jazz was speechless she like Danny had not been expecting this and was unsure whether or not she should stop him.

"Sam and I go hiking from time to time and today we happened upon a scrap metal pile. I was messing around and like an idiot fell into some metal and got hurt." Danny said sardonically. "Happy?"

"No." Mike said shaking his head slowly and crossing his arms. "You're lying Danny."

"What?" Jazz and Danny said in unison, Danny shot a look at his sister seeing she was mirroring the same expression. "How can you tell?" Jazz pursued.

Mike stood next to Danny and pointed along the laceration to his shoulder. "The gash is cleanly cut; if he fell it'd be jagged. There was a slicing action made, can you see?" Danny gritted his teeth as the two inspected his shoulder, suddenly the walls felt smaller and the room behind him seemed more like a corner that was shrinking.

Jazz looked at her brother with an almost sad expression. "Danny..." She began softly her voice shaking. "We aren't your enemy we just want to help you. If you are doing something...something that's dangerous we have to stop that behavior. Not because we hate you but because we love you and want to see you live a long healthy life. Please Danny I'm not mad I'm worried."

"Fine!" Danny cried throwing his hands up in the air and pushing past the two. He turned around and faced them. "Want to know what really happened, I was attacked." They exchanged terrified looks at the confession.

"Why didn't you just say so, we'll call the police right now-"

"No I was attacked by a ghost." He interrupted throwing caution to the wind. "There now are you both satisfied?" It had been an impulsive admission on his part but now there was no going back.

Jazz back stepped slightly at one word. Ghosts. It was taboo between her and her brother it brought back the past all in one overwhelming blur of one syllable. They didn't talk about ghosts existing they didn't talk about ghost hunting or anything other than ectoplasm. They didn't even call the portal a ghost portal for that matter.

"Danny...I...are you alright?" Jazz asked wondering what such a statement could hold. It was loaded no doubt crossed the girl's mind but she didn't comprehend what he was aiming to accomplish. "When you were attacked did you hit your head? Maybe you imagined the guy was a ghost..." She offered slowly putting a hand to his forehead.

He swatted her away aggressively and she pulled her hands back. "You wanted the truth and so I'm crazy now?" He retaliated looking at the two not at all coming back down to earth. Some where in the back of his mind something was screaming that he'd made a rather large mistake.

"Well," Mike began looking equally as worried as Jazz. They cast a glace amongst themselves then both mutually looked to Danny. "We aren't going to rule that out yet."

* * *

_Okay so how many times do I apologize for updating at an infuriatingly slow pace? Yeah school started up I'm making my art portfolio and it eats my time. Also between writing college admissions essays and creative blockaging from forced labor I've been having trouble picking the story line back up and moving it to where I want to go. See I made the dumb mistakes of writing some future parts out, really well, but then forgot to put all the stuff the leads there. So I'm working backwards. I know stupid idea, throw things at me._


	16. Chapter 16

"I can't get over this." Danny retched as Sam held him still as she dabbed the cut under his eye. He kept squirming and her grip kept tightening. "You don't need to do that, it'll heal fast. Just another freak aspect I've gained. Not like _you_ would know anything about that. I mean damn it can I even die?"

Sam gave a frustrated sigh and threw the cloth down surprising him. "Enough Danny. I get that you're confused and I get that you dislike what you've been given. But shut up!" She growled walking away from him. "You really think I'm totally cool with this concept? It freaks me out Danny, freaks me right the hell out."

He winced; his head jolted back subtly as though the words were tangible and had stung him. She was never cross with him especially concerning this matter. "I shouldn't even be here right now; if Jazz shows up we're so busted. I came over to help you and all you can do is complain about what a freak you are. Do you think I want to hear that? Look you have my sympathy, _really,_ but what's wrong with you? You don't even seem to care that I'm doing everything I can for you."

"Well lately, I'm not quite myself and maybe I do need some help." He looked to her darkly, the same darkness he had when he'd been so in love with the concept of dying. Regret flooded her features, she hadn't meant to be so harsh with him but she'd forgotten how delicate he could be. He gave her an odd grin and changed to Phantom in a flash.

"Wait Danny don't go." She called but he wasn't listening, she'd gone and hurt him again. She didn't understand his confusion as much as she liked to say she did. It was becoming even harder for her to trust his delusions because she understood so little of him. As of late she'd been having trouble leveling with him because he seemed to be on an entirely different plane. She looked out the window to see if she could spot him. He was gone and she could never chase him, all the girl could do was despondently slink out of the apartment with her tail between her legs.

Danny muttered to himself as he floated through the sky aimlessly. None of it was very intelligent nor did it follow a pattern of logic, he was just angry, confused, and trying to vent. It wasn't working. He felt more and more lost the more he thought about everything. He thought about Jazz and Mike and what they would think of him. He wondered what the world would think of him if they knew. He could never be normal and never could be accepted into society. As if it weren't bad enough that he wasn't able to recover his reputation from the accident now he could never feign normality. Not for anyone. And it seemed now everyone was starting to notice.

Hell, even Mr. Lancer was seeing the detachment in him, even brought attention to it. Sam wasn't able to keep up with his disconnection and there was nothing he could do to keep her in time with him. She couldn't, though she tried, stay on the same page as him and he knew that, always knew. He wanted to cry, he wanted to scream, he wanted to tear himself to pieces because he was coming to the final conclusion. He was alone. There were people who loved him and surrounded him but he was so alone and would be until he found someone like him. That someone didn't exist.

A striking and disorientating pain struck his head and when he regained his vision he realized he was plummeting from the sky. Panicking he pulled himself back up merely inches away from landing head first into the rough pavement. Startled he looked around and then heard the roar of a machine, it was a hover craft, and its rider was a shapely female in a blood red outfit toting an impressive gun. That large spectacular gun was aimed for him; he darted clumsily out of the crosshairs.

"You're not going anywhere ghost!" She screamed and the familiarity to her voice froze his core. He couldn't put a face to her just now but he _knew_ her. He knew they'd associated when he attended high school, she was probably his age, and now she was trying to kill him. His own peers were trying to destroy him, he'd never wished for a situation to be a ghost attack but now he couldn't stop hoping it was that.

Groaning Danny pushed himself back into the air, narrowly avoiding another barrage of blasts. "Hey what the hell are you doing?" He shouted as she repeatedly took shots at him while he desperately tried to stay out of the crosshairs. "What did I ever do to you?"

"You're a ghost and I destroy ghosts." She seethed, showing no interest in actually explaining herself.

Danny darted off trying to evade all if any bodily damage she intended to deal out to him. It wasn't working; she was equipped with the finest technology and was highly skilled with it as well. The red vision was able to keep up with him and hit him more times then he cared to count.

His vision blurred in his panic and the ensuing pain that was becoming a permanent feeling. She just kept hitting him and all he could do was run and dodge. She wasn't one to exercise mercy he learned that very quickly. Unfortunately, though he had the means to stave her off, he couldn't throw a single shot at her. He had become effective with his ghost powers and even more so with his aim and energy, he had no problems with holding his own in a fight. But this wasn't a ghost fight, his attacker was human.

Every primal instinct pleaded that he fight back and kill before being killed. But every fiber of his humanity stopped him from making a single brutal move against her. He screamed in frustration and panic, unsure of how much longer he was going to be able to withstand the attack any longer. He wasn't torn about what to do though; he'd made his decision the moment he'd been attacked by the huntress. He would not fight her; he would not hurt her, no matter what.

He attempted to threaten her by brandishing a few ectoplasmic orbs or rays that all seemed to just miss her. She laughed at him behind her tinted visor. She mocked and insulted in her deep feminine voice. "Is that all you got?" And it was.

Danny had to stop, he needed to. He could feel his human body being ravaged somewhere beneath the spectral facade. After all he was still human and still had to pay for the damage his ghostly half received. Rocketing upward, he tried to lose her but her hover board was highly sophisticated and able to take her at a near ninety degree angle. She grabbed the edge with her free hand and held a gun with the other as she careened after him.

"You're nothing but a waste of energy, you're not meant to even exist. Accept your fate now!" She threatened as she whirled passed him and double backed to sling an energy charged throwing star towards him. It sliced past his face, opening a wound under his check. Danny hissed at the feeling but couldn't bring himself to fight back.

Finally he got some distance between them. He was far enough so he couldn't hear her occasional insults but not far enough that she wasn't going to take aim. Another blow was taken in his back he cried out in pain and lost control of his power over gravity. Danny was falling again and was having trouble bringing himself back up. Falling faster and faster the boy had nothing left to do but to brace himself for his inevitable landing.

He crashed into the ground violently, his entire internal set up seemed to have shifted dramatically and a searing pain rocked him into a numbing sensation. The red huntress was far enough away that he could safely let himself become a human without her seeing. He lied on the ground half embedded in some bushed just staring blankly forward. He contemplated staying there all night. He was too damaged to get up and go on. A human turned a gun on him, tried to kill him, that old self-loathing came back. Every half of his being wanted him dead, the ghosts, and the people.

Groaning abjectly, Danny let his head cradled in the sharp unforgiving bushes. He just didn't have the energy or will power to do anything. Then a voice called it too was familiar. The sound of pounding feet added to the pounding in his head, whoever this rescue team was they were giving him a migraine. Couldn't they just leave him alone?

Someone fell beside him and moved some of the brush back. An audible gasp could be heard. "Danny?" Hands were touching him, checking to see if he was still alive. He was sure he could use a second opinion on that. "Danny, can you hear me dude?"

Danny opened his eyes and saw a face he couldn't recall seeing for some time. Of all the people in the world, it had to be Tucker Foley. He looked scared. Danny shifted implicating he wanted to get back up and let Tucker guide him to a sitting up position. His internal organs shifted back to their normal places. Danny rubbed his neck grimacing from the soreness.

"Are you okay Danny?" Tucker asked still shocked to see the boy in such a state.

Danny craned his neck to see his old friend and some strange boy standing slightly off to the side. The boy had a nervous look on his face as though he were intruding somewhere he didn't belong. He had shaggy brown hair and stark blue eyes filled with confusion and general human concern. It didn't take very long for Danny to put it together, this boy was Tucker's new best friend, this boy was Danny's replacement.

"Never better." Danny grinned hiding his now crushed self-esteem; this is exactly what he needed now, another reminder of how horrible he was and how easily he could be forgotten.

Tucker put his hand on his shoulder gently. "Are you sure? I can get you help."

"No, no don't bother it's nothing."

The boy gave him a disbelieving look sparking Danny's imagination. He must've looked like a mess. "It is not nothing. What the hell happened to you? If you're this sick what are you doing out here all alone?"

Danny let loose a laugh, in hindsight he realized how insane it must've sounded. "Sick? I'm not sick anymore, didn't you hear about that?" He laughed again. "No, no I was attacked."

Tucker's eyes got wide and his face was blank with confusion. He tried to shake his head of the shock but was having trouble doing so. "W-what? Attacked? Who?"

Casually the raven haired teenager stretched, his joints popped and cracked in response. "Yup attacked. I'm a pretty usual target; I think they're all still mad at me for tearing open an inter-dimensional portal. Ah well, it's the price I pay for being so careless."

He looked horrified, but not because of how it was being said, but because what was being said didn't make much sense. Clearly Danny had changed and if he had gotten well he hadn't become any better. Striking the boy rather violently, the realization came to Tucker that Danny had slipped mentally. Guilt wracked Tucker for a moment as he realized he hadn't aided Danny's healing and had probably only done more to ruin him so completely. Because that was what he was looking at now, the ruins of Danny Fenton, his old friend was long gone and he could probably never be recovered again.

Danny got to his feet as if to stand, his jaded gaze fell on the strange onlooker. "Well it seems I should go as I'm sure you two have plans for the night."

More shame cast itself across Tucker as he remembered his friend who had been behind him. What the two boys must've thought of him, here was Danny an old friend he'd abandoned and here was his new friend the one he'd picked up after giving up on Danny. The raven haired teen cast his narrowed eyes on Tucker and he shrunk under the judgment. He couldn't hide the fact that he had replaced him because it was written all over his face.

The silence was tense and all present were at the edge of their nerves. Each boy was unaware of what to do now, there seemed to be nothing to say, but so much was building up. Tucker had questions for Danny, Danny questions for Tucker, the stranger had questions for the both of them. They didn't know how to ask or if the other was going to respond passively, it didn't seem that way.

"Danny!" Relieved everyone turned at the female voice. Sam came running over the small group and was at Danny's side in a second. Her worried look disappeared and turned into surprise as she saw Tucker standing there. It made for a strange uncomfortable reunion.

Tucker's face distorted to complete disbelief to see their old female friend coming to Danny's aid. The very girl who had abandoned Danny first was now acting as his closest friend again. "Tucker?" Sam questioned her eyes narrowed, she spat venom. "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? What are _you_ doing here?" He responded defensively.

"Me?" Sam retracted aggressively. "Excuse me who do you think you are? I'm here for my _friend_. "

"Friend?!" Tucker exclaimed nearly laughing nearly screaming. "You call Danny your friend? After all the shit you put him through and all the things you said to me. You think you can stand there and accuse me of being the villain. I was there when you weren't, when you thought it would be better to be a hedonist than a friend."

"Yes well at least I had the guts to go back and apologize. What about you Mr. He's-as-good-as-dead, did you ever once consider making up for the wrongs _you_ did?" They were going for the fresh wounds, tearing them open until the opponent was vulnerable and unable to defend against another attack. So far it was just a matter of back and forth, no wins only more open wounds.

The two were arguing violently and it became apparent to Danny that there was a lot of negative space between them. Most of which he would never know, this was their secret war, something that had raged on for quite some time. Apparently the two had become so embittered by each other that their friendship could never be repaired. They were enemies now.

Danny tugged at Sam's arm breaking her stand-offish stance. He wanted to stop her before the two went blow for blow, he knew she'd forget Tucker if he acted like he needed her. "Come on Sam, we should go." He urged in a somber tone.

She nodded her mood changing immediately and she walked closely with Danny in case he should stumble. Danny threw a glance over his shoulder to see Tucker standing there, his fists still balled, but his eyes glassy and his face confused and hurt. Danny had to look away that look was killing him. The understanding had reached him, that both he and Tucker knew, they could never be friends again either. Quickly and impulsively he buried the mourning feeling in the back of his mind, that was dead, time to move on.

"Daniel James Fenton!" Jazz shouted as the slackened boy entered the apartment. Sam had not accompanied him to the door as she was not to be associating with him for the time being. "Where have you been?"

"Just getting some fresh air." He responded with a shrug.

His sister had her hands on her hips, her lower lip protruding in frustration. "Danny, I have had it." She stated slowly and affirmatively. "It's been hard enough keeping this family together on my own but I don't need you running around-"

"Jazz, relax it's fine."

"Fine? You're sneaking out now, doing God knows what." She stepped forward and used her thumb to wipe some of the blood from a cut on his cheek. Her features softened as her hand rested on his shoulder and she sighed. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do with you anymore." Her eyes meeting with his, he could see the disappointment.

Danny ground his teeth, he wanted to sympathize with her but found it troubling since she just couldn't understand what he was going through. He respected and loved her for she had done for him but she had no right to treat him like a scoundrel. "You're not getting it Jazz." He responded pulling away from her grip. He didn't want her to touch him just that look was enough to make him want to cry. She just wasn't aware of what was happening to him.

She held her hand up defensively as he backed away from her aggressively. "I'm not crazy or anything. There really are ghosts. They really are attacking me and I really am trying my best to fight them off." He blurted in frustration, he couldn't handle this repeated degeneration of his character. "I'm not a criminal Jazz."

"I never said that-"

"And I'm not a delusional screw up. The ectoplasm inside me attracts the ghosts and-"

"Danny enough!" Jazz interjected with a cry of frustration. "Ectoplasm isn't real, it's just the name our parents gave to the radiation they created. It isn't really ghostly energy it's just an energy they created, don't you get that? Exctoplasm and ghosts don't exist, it's all just stories."

"I know what I've seen and it's not some hallucination. You can't tell me it's not real not when I can feel it."

She shook her head. "Danny you're not understanding me. You were infected with a new form of radiation based energy, it's never been seen before, so our parents named it ectoplasm because it was their discovery. But that doesn't make it the ectoplasm of ghosts and that doesn't make ghosts real. It's just what they wanted to believe..."

"And you're not understanding me, you're wrong Jazz. This isn't some false belief, they really did discover actual _ghostly_ ectoplasm and it's inside me, making me a magnet for ghost activity. I saw the portal, it's open-"

"You went to the house?" She gasped cutting him off. "You went into the lab? What were you thinking Danny?"

"I was thinking that maybe I needed to find some answers. And I did Jazz. Mom and Dad were always right, they knew what they were talking about." He had an enthralled grin on his face, he was nearly laughing, because he had found a piece to his puzzle there and he wanted to share it with her. So that they could piece him back together.

"Jazz you _have_ to believe me." He urged almost begging, his face falling at the sight of her distressed expression. He wasn't sure why but he needed her to believe him. The attack earlier today had damaged his sense of self worth and if anyone was going to piece him back together it was her. He just needed her to be on his side again.

Jazz's features softened with a sadness. "Danny," She began. "I know why you want to believe in ghosts, you want to justify them for walking out on us. I want to give them a reason too but we have to face the facts that what they did doesn't make any sense."

Danny shook his head, he hated when people mentioned his parents, hated it even more when they mentioned that they'd abandoned him. He shuddered and choked back tears, he was confused and scared. Jazz was taking everything he said with a grain of salt, acting like he was speaking nonsense. And she pitied him for it. She pitied her wretch of a brother for trying to make sense of his pathetic tragic life. He wanted to slam his head into a wall and scream at her until it processed. He was close, very close to just exposing himself, and proving her wrong. He refrained because he was not even entirely in control of that situation enough to make sense of it for her.

"Forget it." He urged lowly and turned to walk away. He was feeling less confident and alone now more than ever. She would never believe him, never accept him, and never think him stable. He was her insane little screw up of a brother. The reality wa sinking his face and breaking his back, it was becoming probable that no one would take him seriously.

* * *

_So I work at an Arts and Crafts store and since we're on holiday hours they decided I need to work six hours five times a week, I also have a second job running a cartooning class on one of my only days off. Wheeee! So I've been trying to work on writing, which isn't working well for me, but here you go my dedicated readers. Also if it's any consolation I have something else in the works for you called Prodigal Son. It's even further along then this story. Look for that when it gets out._


	17. Chapter 17

Mentally-incompetent, delirious, unstable, crazy.

The terms had been tossed around in hushed voices for the past two weeks. Sam was barred from seeing Danny until further notice and as for Danny well he wasn't to leave the house. For the first time Mike was taking charge over Danny and Jazz played the non-threatening role of his confident. But Danny wasn't able to get it through to her that nothing was wrong. He was struggling with the reality that she just wouldn't believe him and he no longer had anything to say to her that he hadn't already said; she'd shoot him down anyway.

Meanwhile his second life was growing even more hectic than he was sure he could handle. Releasing the Box Ghost back into the portal had been understandably a mistake. Word spread amongst ghosts from realm to realm that Danny was unaware that a "halfa" had been created; it was well noted that he was young and inexperienced. One after the other, the ghosts were beginning their competition of dismantling the second halfa in existence before he became aware and thus powerful. Unwittingly, Danny had opened the door to something far larger then he could possibly comprehend, let alone handle.

In his new found spare time he tried researching anything about ghosts. Quickly he found that people knew less about them then he did, nothing noted the energy levels ghosts sensed and produced and fed off. Ectoplasm was a concept thrown about but not fully studied. In his delving Danny stumbled upon some of his parent's published works. Their most acclaimed work amongst the paranormal investigators and parapsychologists, a large book on the theory of ectoplasm as a real element. Nearly every legitimate site referenced the book, others provided links to where the book could be purchased. The name Fenton was on every other paranormal-based website Danny found.

Sickened Danny shut his laptop unable to breathe for a moment. Having found his parents made a profit off his years of suffering was not sitting well. It was bad enough they ruined his life entirely but to exploit the thing that very well near killed him was too much. That meant they were still out there somewhere and it was obvious they didn't care about their forgotten son. He was just a scientific theory to them now. Somewhere a pang resounded within him, a pang that begged for his parent's affection. The longing was almost immediately swallowed up in a bitter wave of resentment and hatred; it made him numb and it made him forget there was ever a reason to care.

His thoughts broke as he felt his breath hitch and a nearly indistinguishable blue mist drifted from his mouth and a shiver ran up his spine. It was his 'ghost sense', as dubbed by his quirky female friend. This week had been particularly demanding and he'd met new foes, each more strange then the next. Sam and himself were keeping an ever-growing file on each ghost encountered, mostly he'd let her do the documenting. So far they had the Box Ghost, the Lunch Lady, Desiree, Technus, and a nameless drifter wearing a cloak all logged into the locked database. Each ghost had been worse than the last; Danny swore they were starting to follow a pattern in his behavior.

Technus had been the most recent terrible ghost, as he knew how to manipulate technology which was something Danny had never known was possible. He had made a mental note that ghosts had the ability to manipulate things that were not paranormal linked. Technus' little ability meant anything that was dangerous in human hands was intensified with ghost energy and directed toward Danny. It was that very ghost that only three weeks ago had spoiled his cover with Jazz and Mike; now they knew he believed in ghosts and now they thought him insane.

Danny glanced out his window to see if he could spot a ghost. Sometimes his ghost sense wasn't an alert to any real danger it was sometimes just a reminder that there was another spirit not too far from him. Another form of energy, that if he were a malevolent ghost, he could feed off.

Not every ghost was like the ones he'd faced in battle. Some were just spirits lost and uninterested in the natural world. They drifted without a purpose or were simple imprints, ghosts unaware that they were dead that enacted their final moments in a constant turnstile for eternity. Those imprint ghosts horrified him the most, they didn't speak, but some screamed as they performed their gruesome ends again and again without stopping. They would do this every year on the date of their death and would never cease even if the places were unrecognizable. If they climbed stairs and the stairs had disappeared long ago they would still ascend the invisible steps as though nothing had changed.

He searched the streets, his eyes darting apprehensively, and spotted something; a large shinning metallic looking beast with a shock of fiery green hair was hovering about as if in search of something. The size of the creature was incredible and terrifying but regardless Danny had to go after him. He wasn't entirely sure why he _had_ to but he got the urge. It was self-righteous in nature but also selfless, the ghost onslaught had grown so intensely that people could not only see ghosts but could also be physically harmed or killed. Killing a human for a ghost is the ultimate energy source, like a morbid ambrosia death essence was well sought after by creatures of the spirit world.

Danny checked his door and heard no footsteps and let the tell-tale cold light envelop him and change him. He became intangible and flew out of the apartment complex to quietly pursue the metallic based ghost. For a great deal of time he was able to follow the ghost undetected and it seemed the ghost was only on an aimless path. But the closer he got the more he noticed this ghost was surveying maybe even searching the town for something.

The rampant thought drove through his head, this was all real, he wasn't crazy. They were crazy to ignore the simple fact that he had changed and the world was very illogical. One day they would have to confront the changes. Deep down he knew he would too. The ghost disappeared from sight and Danny stopped midair to look around for his potential opponent. Alarms began to blare from the building bellow him and suddenly the creature reappeared holding an item Danny couldn't make out.

"Why would a ghost need to steal something?" he mused aloud in order to direct the attention of the culprit.

"No concern of yours whelp," the ghost returned as he squirreled away the object. The ghost turned and Danny for the first time caught sight of the abysmal green eyes staring into his own, burning through his core, this ghost knew him but Danny was a stranger. "Now this is a surprise, your pelt will make an excellent addition to my fine collection."

Danny blinked, looked around in search of the coveted prize the creature was talking about, then returned his frightened gaze back to the looming abomination. "Are-are you talking to me?" he asked pointing to himself innocently.

"Of course, allow me to introduce myself; I am Skulker the Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter!" he exclaimed triumphantly as a laser canon appeared on his wrist and blasted Danny in the stomach.

--

Mike had only run to the car to retrieve his laptop, it was only supposed to take a minute. Of course his life wasn't simple anymore and he only looked up away from the car for a moment. A shout sounded and his eyes began scanning the area. Out of nowhere a scrawny figure skid into the cement of the road with a limp disturbing thud and familiar scream. The older boy raced out of the side-alley parking lot to see just what had momentarily flown by; his breath hitched when he got a good view.

Lying, back turned and unmoving was a very familiar shape. His mind grinded to an uncomfortable screeching halt; the shape was Danny. The realization sent the gears in motion and suddenly Mike found himself running toward the boy. The questions in his mind revolved around whether or not the boy was still breathing. His hand dipped into his pocket only to find that his phone was safely tucked away in the apartment building. Now Mike was the only one that could save Danny, and he knew it.

He was just about to reach the boy when a whirring of machinery passed him and he was knocked over by the close contact. Whatever had been launched had detonated and it had been aimed directly at the vulnerable boy. The small explosion had thankfully missed but it was only a portent of something much worse. Mike tossed his head around to see just what was attacking. It was a strange humanoid machine, mechanically driven and heading full speed toward Danny.

Mike didn't need to think twice and though he thought himself no where near heroic; he was protective. He wasn't going to stand by and let someone he loved be hurt, not again. He skidded out in front of the boy's fallen shape and threw his arms out making himself into a human shield.

"You stay away from him!" He shouted the words tearing from his throat. He wasn't sure what he was hoping to accomplish by doing this, upon first glance at the advisary he could easily calculate that he was greatly outmatched. Weapons of all sort protruded from the metallic armor and the cold eyes regarded Mike with a sort of amusement.

"Human, you are in the way of my hunt. The kill is mine, step away," the man, or creature, ordered calmly his voided green eyes staring the older boy down.

"He is not your kill. He's my little brother and you can't have him. I'm not moving, you'll just...you'll just have to kill me first," Mike returned his voice shaking but his position staying the same. Now he really wasn't sure what he was doing and was sure Jazz would finish him off if this monster of a maniac didn't. But he was torn because he meant what he said, Danny was a brother to him, and he would do anything to protect him.

The metal-suited man glared at the boy with a sense of loathing. "You're ruining the thrill of the hunt, but if I must kill you to get my prize," he snatched Mike up by the shirt and felt three blades projectile out of the maniac's glove. The blades rested underneath his chin, grazing the skin. "Then so be it."

"Do your worst." It slipped and he couldn't believe it, he was actually giving the guy an invitation to brutality.

The moment froze and Mike shut his eyes suddenly gripped by an icy sensation. This _thing_, he had decided it couldn't possibly be human, was going to kill him. He was staring death straight in the face and it was horrific. Nothing like this had ever happened to him and suddenly all those times he'd told people he'd give his life for them didn't mean as much. Now he was actually doing it and unsure about the decision even as it occurred. Too late, he thought hopefully that Danny would get away, though Mike was almost positive Danny wouldn't regain conscious fast enough to escape.

"Let him go!"

The voice was so familiar and yet so different. Mike tried to look to the owner of the voice, his savior but was thrown backwards. His head hit the pavement with a sickening snap. His vision instantly became fuzzy then black, a ringing echoed in his ears until he was deafened. For what could've been years, but was really only a few minutes, Mike wasn't aware of anything or anyone. When his vision came back hazy and grayed at the edges he remembered things clicking like gears working themselves back into place. Then suddenly a snap and he remembered the metallic man, the death-threat, and then Danny. Mike rocketed up from his supine position and looked around to see no body in the street.

A churning feeling flipped his stomach and turned it into knots until he was sure he'd vomit. Looking frantically, Mike kept thinking over the attacker's words. The _hunt_, the _kill_, he had been referencing Danny. He couldn't imagine what he'd do if his efforts had been in vain. He couldn't imagine just how Jazz would handle the news. Forgetting the sore feeling in his limbs, Mike got to his feet to scrutinize the area hoping that the boy hadn't been taken. Finally and regrettably Mike heard a soft moan; the man wasted no time in rushing to the side of the stumbling figure. Just as he reached Danny the boy collapsed against his arms finding sanctuary to rest his beaten body for a moment.

"Hey kid," he whispered drinking in the sight of his body, hoping he wasn't worse for the wear.

"Hey," Danny responded grinning weakly at the elder boy.

"How you holding up?" Mike asked looking him up and down while shifting the weight of the slackened body. The boy had scuff marks on his skin where he had been scraped against the pavement. His hand was tightly clamped over his stomach as if to hide something.

Danny gritted his teeth as he helped in pushing himself to his feet. His body swayed in the effort of standing on his own then his knees buckled. He braced himself for a fall put felt an arm steady underneath him. Mike positioned Danny's shoulder over his while keeping his arm securely underneath his frame. "I think I'll live," the raven haired teen answered.

Mike seemed to release a comforted sigh. "Come on Danny, let's get you inside." He eyed his stomach and saw the hand had never moved from its spot.

The twenty year old was very gentle in leading the boy back up the stairs to the apartment. He was even more so when he helped sit him down on the couch. Sore and battered, Danny accepted the help and the comfort of the soft pale cushions beneath him. The tall figure of Mike reappeared into his half-lidded sight holding a few items.

Danny breathed heavily, catching himself for a moment before the inevitable talk to follow. He couldn't have been the only one in the small family to feel the "talks" they had were increasingly useless. Either Jazz or Mike would give out their lecture dealing with life and death and Danny would listen, insert his thoughts, and then they would pretend that they had resolved everything. Regardless of what they said now Danny would still continue with his habits. He couldn't become un-ghost and he couldn't ignore the rabidly growing problem, even if that meant sacrificing his life in any and all aspects. He wanted so bad to tell them, so they could understand just why he kept getting hurt, why he kept sneaking out, and why he was always precarious. Something inside him urged that they just wouldn't understand.

Mike gentle padded the drying blood on Danny's face with a sideways frown. Danny averted his eyes dreading to start the conversation; he was hoping to completely avoid the entire situation but knew that was impossible. He sat quietly, unflinching, trying very hard not to so much as breathe unsteady to provoke any sort of worry. He was tired of being the helpless child and exhausted with being the victim in need of constant guidance and special care. He was far from that now, he was something far greater than even he could understand and he could do so much more than anyone in the world. If they only knew, he thought bitterly while the older boy dabbed the blood away.

Finally the unyielding silence shattered with a tight jaw hiss from Mike while he easily removed Danny's clenched hand from his stomach. Cleanly cut and bleeding sluggishly, three lacerations were present. They were not deep enough to kill but enough to do some serious damage to a human. Danny seemed calm, nearly unfazed by the wound or the entire situation, his face read routine. It didn't make any sense, a clearly unbalanced man in a battlesuit had beaten him violently in an attempt to live some sick fantasy of hunting people and Danny was acting as though it were business as usual. From what he gathered the man had the intentions to skin the boy and that was enough to make Mike ill for years.

He shivered at the thought and his stomach shifted, he would have reoccurring nightmares about this for decades to come. How could anyone indulge in anything so vile? And why Danny, of all the people he could have chosen from, why did he pick Danny? The boy who had spent his entire teenage years fighting an anonymous sickness that had no cure, the boy who had lost his family through no fault of his own. Danny, who was just starting to rebuild his life after all that and some psycho comes along to destroy all his progress. Mike just wanted the kid to feel happiness but wasn't sure if he'd ever know that side of Danny. He'd have killed just to see a genuine smile on that face, Jazz would often reflect that his smile was impeccable.

Mike cleared his throat and locked eyes with the boy. "You know that guy was not like other people, he was one of the many maggots that you may or may not stumble across. He's not a monster, just a person, a person you shouldn't devote any nightmares to."

Danny shifted his shoulders, lowering them in submission. His blue irises darted away and Mike tried to imagine them that shade of unnatural green again. He didn't remember why they changed back but when Danny returned that fateful night the unfamiliar green had faded to a soft recognizable blue. He wished he could understand the depth of the shifting blue ocean but knew no suffering to such an extent.

"Mike I..." Danny's voice cracked and drifted away with the sentiment. "Do you think I'm crazy?"

A frown graced his face at the question. He had been having his doubts about Danny's sanity much more than he'd ever cared to consider. Both he and Jazz had found the new belief in ghosts troubling. Ghosts were not a stable topic that anyone wished to discuss. It wasn't that the three were naysayers in the face of the paranormal, it was that the paranormal was the root of every trouble they'd had for the past three years. Had there never been an obsession in the family Danny would've never been subjected to the backlash. Had he never been subjected to the backlash he never would've lost his parents or friends. He never would've had to experience such a serious depression or ever been so intimate with hospitals.

Danny's interest in ghosts was troubling because it was a precursor to worse issues. Jazz kept worrying that maybe he was starting to hallucinate the visions to make up for what he lost, in an effort to justify the past three years of his life as a result from something substantial. It had to be painful to be so critically wounded both physically and emotionally by your own family over something that wasn't real. In all likelihood it was very possible that Danny was losing his mind and Jazz was wary to admit it. After all, considering everything Danny had endured a mental breakdown seemed to be the logical conclusion.

"I don't think you're crazy," he paused trying to find ways to skirt the issue. "I just think that with everything happening so fast that maybe you're having some trouble adjusting. It takes some time for things to go back to normal. Since our version of normal wasn't traditional, it'll take a lot of time for you to conform to a real life. You've been granted your freedom Danny now you've got to slow down and figure out what to do with it."

A glassy glaze worked its way over Danny's eyes. Mike wasn't sure but it almost seemed that the boy was at a loss, not with the explanation, but with himself. "I don't think I'll ever be normal," his tone was slow and steady in an attempt to cover the way his voice quivered.

"You have something to tell me?" Mike asked carefully lifting his eyes from the stomach wound.

The raven haired teen turned his head away. Dropping his gaze to the floor, he moved his mouth slowly trying to fit the confession to his voice. Nothing was coming out and his brain was slowing to an abrupt halt. There were no words to describe, no feelings to relate, and no explanation that could bring understanding to the topic. If they could just believe it was him then he could say all the words that he knew but even Jazz regarded him as a changed person. He wasn't just her brother Danny any more; he was her brother Danny who was different now. Because of this their belief in him was shattered. He was like a stranger to them in more ways than one and he was certain they didn't trust this stranger.

"I don't know how it got so bad..." he murmured weakly unable to keep the thought locked away.

The young man shook his head gently in response and cupped the sullen boy's chin in his hand. "It's all going to get better," he coaxed. "And I know it doesn't seem like it but everything will work out with some time. Your sister and I, we'll be right there for you no matter what."

"You keep saying that!" Danny cried feverishly standing up in frustration, "But you don't honestly mean it, how can you?"

Mike's brow furrowed in confusion and slight offense. "Danny, I'd like to think your sister and I have endured a lot of things most people wouldn't even pretend to handle. Don't you think you're pushing this into the melodramatic?" Mike returned bitterly, not intentionally meaning to upset the boy but he wasn't appreciating this lack of gratitude.

"Melodramatic? You don't know the half of it and you wouldn't even understand if I told you. If you only knew what I've seen and what I've been through," Danny returned gesticulating violently and causing a sudden spasm of pain to snake through his body. He doubled over slightly, gripping his stomach.

"See now, you're getting all worked up and hurting yourself," Mike explained if not a little too condescendingly. He reached out to hold Danny's shoulder but the boy swatted him away aggressively. "You don't have to be so ungrateful all the time Danny."

"Don't touch me," He warned. "I can handle this alone."

"Are you kidding me, that guy nearly skinned you alive today!" he almost shouted now completely fed up with the ingrate, "Why if i hadn't been there-"

"You?" Danny seethed his eyes narrowing and Mike swore he saw a green tint to them, "I..." Danny let out an exasperated growl, having to censor himself. He couldn't obviously tell the older boy that he had been the one to fight Skulker off, effectively saving himself and Mike. In fact the only thing Mike really did was put himself in danger and make extra work for Danny. Clearly he didn't know that, but Danny did and Danny couldn't tell anyone. Feeling chilled with rage Danny threw his hands up and walked away towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Mike demanded.

Danny stood at the doorway gripping the open door. "Out," he stated firmly before slamming the door.

"You get back here this instant Mister!" Mike shouted but stood defeated in the empty living room. Danny was gone, images of the suited demon flashed in his mind and he slowly began to descend into a neurotic mess. If the boy didn't return, it would be his fault.

--

When Jazz returned she found the house eerily quiet, uncharacteristic of a place that harbored too less than modest boys. "Hello?" she called in hopes of some life to make itself known. "Danny? Mike?" she pursued while flipping on the lights and hanging her coat on the back of their living room chair.

"Anyone home?" she singsonged as she peeked into her bedroom and found it empty. She then peeked into Danny's and stumbled backwards into the wall at the horrific sight."Danny!" Jazz cried trying to catch her breath.

The room was dark but even in the crack of light shinning in through the hallway she could see the macabre paint job. Reddened hand prints decorated the wall coupled with lime green splatters of something she didn't recognize. Biting her lip, Jazz entered the room trying to collect herself as best she could. It was incredibly likely that though the house was deathly quiet that Danny was still home. She hoped she was wrong, she hoped she was dreaming, but she knew that reality never went away.

She was cautious as she walked light footed through the room, it was empty. Her foot bumped against a small gun abandoned on the floor, she blinked at it, and then cautiously bent over to inspect the weapon. Jazz looked it over, hesitating to touch it out of fear. She didn't know how Danny obtained a gun and was even more worried over the reasons it had come into his possession. The longer she looked the more familiar it became; finally she threw her caution away and picked it up. The feel, the design, the build, was all painfully familiar and images of her parent's faces flashed into her mind. This wasn't an ordinary weapon it was an ecto-gun, a silly little invention her parents crafted thinking it would destroy ghosts. Now she couldn't fathom why Danny would have this.

She heard a crash and looked up from her squatting position on the floor. Her heart jumped to her throat as her mind caught up with what was happening. A glowing, or he looked like he was glowing, boy with silver white hair had just entered the room in a rather unfashionable manner. She jumped up and held the gun aimed readily at his head in fear.

"Jazz!" the stranger exclaimed meeting her with the most fantastic pair of glowing green eyes she'd ever witnessed. She remembered the gun in her hand and immediately turned it on the intruder. He picked himself up off the floor but just as he was standing straight she barked at him not to move, he stood motionless against the wall inspecting the barrel of the ecto-gun thoughtfully.

"Where's my brother?" she demanded roughly. She didn't care who he was but she knew that if he could so easily enter this room than it was more than likely he'd done something with Danny. "Where is he?"

Danny drew back his eyes focusing on the intensity of his sister's face; he didn't realize she was capable of such aggression. If he didn't choose his words carefully she'd probably shoot him point blank. Now he knew his sister was not a violent person and was probably the last to pull a trigger, unless of course it meant protecting her little brother. She fiercely would defend him and he could've cried at the irony of the situation. Phantom forced back his laughter knowing it would only further his sister's rage and maybe even force her to make him pay. Understandably the situation looked bleak and he looked like the villain.

"Look you don't know what you're doing," he choked out with a nervous smile.

She cocked the gun and made his face the dead center of the cross-hairs. "Oh yeah? Try me."

* * *

_Happy Future everyone! So hey, where have I been well, s'been rough folks real rough, lost a really good friend a few weeks before xmas and that was no fun but I'm back ready for a new year and ready to stuff your lovable faces with some words.  
_


	18. Chapter 18

"Wait, wait, wait!" he stammered throwing his hands up. "You have to listen to me, Jazz I-"

"No," she growled and was surprisingly intimidating, "you listen to me and listen good, I don't care who or _what_ you are, I'll kill you if you did _anything_ to my little brother."

"I really don't think you want to pull that trigger. Trust me on this one," he tried to reason but was so humored and terrified at the same time that he was in desperate need of a reality check. How ironic would it be if his own sister shot him dead in an effort to protect him?

She sneered becoming tired of his obviously gauche disposition. "I don't care, just tell me where Danny is and this doesn't have to end in a mess, is it really that hard?"

But it was that hard, he was having a very complicated identity crisis. Danny's eyes darted and he realized she was absolutely clueless to what exactly had transpired over the day. He could tell her that her brother hopped a train to Kenosha and well she'd probably have to at least lower the gun. Danny didn't want to let on that he knew Danny Fenton well enough to know what he'd decided to do. Then suddenly it came to him, he fought these ghosts for two reasons, one being that he had this relentless need to disband them from town and two being that he wanted to protect people. He guessed deep down he really just wanted to be what everyone secretly wants to be, a hero.

"I-I saved him," he blurted quickly and her eyebrow quirked in response, "yeah, that's right, I saved Danny. He's safe." Which was a lie, he wasn't safe at all unless staring down the barrel of a gun was a new safety procedure.

"Where is he?" she asked through clenched teeth, "I'm not going to ask again," she insured while giving the ecto-gun a little jolt as a gesture of her impatience.

Danny nearly slapped himself, he hadn't thought of that. Why wouldn't he have brought him back if he had rescued him? Sometimes he forgot just how smart his sister was and regretted immediately that he underestimated her. Nervous, he was very nervous because he had no answers for her and she had no mercy for him.

"Look, shooting me isn't going to solve anything!" he cried in a sudden panic causing the girl slight shock. "You really really_ really_ don't want to do it, please trust me."

Ever since he'd gained his ghost powers he'd begun fearing things less and less, why even ghosts were not registering as a threat as much as they were an annoyance. This was different, he was afraid she'd shoot him and even more afraid that there was nothing he could do about it. It wasn't death that made the notion so terrifying, it was his sister's reaction. If he lived he'd have to deal with her knowing what he was and maybe even then she'd finish him off after discovering the truth. If he didn't, well he didn't even want to think about how she'd fair after discovering the truth in the most gruesome way possible.

"Why not? Why should I trust you-you probably left him to bleed to death somewhere!" she fumed. "What _are_ you?"

A slight grin appeared on his pale face. "A ghost."

Her face jaw slackened at the answer. "There's no such thing," she said pointedly while shaking her head. She refused to let herself believe for a second that the boy in front of her was a ghost. She'd never seen one before and even though a painful fluctuation of news stories exposing the inhabiting ghosts in town were appearing she refused to believe them. Danny seemed to believe the stories, even claimed he was a prime target for the malicious spirits' attacks. Was it possible he wasn't crazy; was it possible the town wasn't full of fools believing in ghost stories? Was it possible that this boy claiming to have saved her brother was really a ghost?

"Come on Jazz look at what you're holding," he began gesturing to her weapon, "you're not aiming that at me because you don't believe it will work. It's an ecto-gun, designed to hurt ghosts."

"It could still work on a human," she protested though her conviction was breaking. "I don't care!" she was stricken with a sudden unbearable frustration, "I just want my brother back!"

"Just admit it, ghosts are real and you're looking at one," Phantom implored.

Jazz shook her head, there were many reasons why she couldn't believe this. If ghosts were real then her parents were right. If they were right about that then they were right about a lot of things, including ectoplasm being real. If ectoplasm was real then that meant they were right and Danny was never getting better. In that reality, the reality where ghosts are real, her little brother was going to die. "I-I can't."

Danny's features softened, he could see the stress and confusion written in the lines of her face. He couldn't bear to put his sister through any more grief, she'd suffered enough on his behalf. "Jazz, I-" He was rudely interrupted by the crashing of Skulker as he entered the room, guns blazing.

Danny's gut twisted in horror, Jazz was in the way of Skulker's heavy artillery. He reacted as quickly as he could and just before the ghost had the chance to attack, Danny had leaped at his sister. The action caused Jazz's hand to slip and her gun fired as he wrapped his arms around her, ignoring the pain he continued holding onto her and took them through a wall. Landing on the carpet he released her mid-roll and clutched his side in agony, she'd grazed the stomach wound from earlier today. Jazz rubbed her head, having hit it hard against the floor, and then looked to the ghost and realized they were no longer in Danny's room.

"What's going on?" she cried in confusion. Had she really just passed through a solid object; was that even possible?

He stood on shaking limbs and opened his mouth to explain but instead was thrown instantaneously into a wall by an invisible intruder. She gasped as a large mechanical monster appeared in the center of the living room and seemed to be equipped with an ungodly amount of weapons, all trained on the white haired boy. She wasn't sure why but the pained look on the boy's face kicked her instincts into gear and she fumbled for her dropped weapon. She aimed at the unaware creature and shot at him, the metal-based monster was not as sorely affected as she'd hoped; he did miss his shot at the boy who had time to recover.

The ghost upon seeing the culprit turned his hand upward, exposing a metal glove and an engraved circle that light up as it powered up. She knew, just knew, that the creature was aiming to kill and she was frozen in place. Danny's mind faltered as he noticed the blind fear in his sister's eyes and ignoring any pain he rocketed to his feet.

"No! You leave her alone!" the boy screamed at the top of his lungs and flying tackled the mechanical beast, forcing them out of sight and out of the building.

Jazz, overwhelmed by the series of incomprehensible events, collapsed to her knees clutching her weapon with a blank look on her face. That was where Danny found her half an hour later.

"Jazz?" Danny called meekly as he reentered the apartment. He walked lightly inside, trying to hide his limp and the intensifying pain in his stomach. There on the living room floor where he last remembered seeing her was his sister, not moving with catatonic eyes. "Jazz!"

His first gut wrenching thoughts were that she'd been hurt and he hadn't realized it. Immediately he berated himself mentally, throwing scorching insults at himself for being so stupid and careless, for letting someone innocent get roped into his stupid predicaments. He dropped on his knees in front of his sister and took her shoulders, his blue eyes flitting over her form in search of injuries. Seemingly out of nowhere the spark rekindled back into her glassy eyes and she wrapped her brother in a hug.

"Danny I was so worried," she admitted quietly.

He patted her back but had nothing more to say to her as he reminded himself that he'd told her he'd rescued himself earlier. He'd also never told her what had happened to her brother or what state he'd been in when rescued and he'd just left her with the small inkling that he was safe somewhere. "I'm okay Jazz," he reassured her gently.

"I just didn't know..."

The remainder of the day was spent cleaning his own blood and ectoplasm off the walls while stumbling over a story for Jazz. Though admittedly it was harder to convince her that she didn't need to check him for injuries. Danny tried with great difficulty to keep his facts straight lest he be caught in a lie. The pressure of an impending lie stressed him out because Jazz would be able to pull his whole story apart if she found him in one inconsistency. What the teen didn't realize was that his sister was so relieved to see him alright that she was hardly listening to his story let alone scrutinizing it.

The red head dipped her sponge into the bucket of water to attempt to clean a rather finicky spot off the wall. "Danny, the important thing is that you're okay," she finally said in order to halt his incessant babbling. She was having trouble chasing his story around, her head was killing her and she wanted him to relax; as far as she was concerned all was well again.

"Do you believe me Jazz?" he finally asked as he paused mid-scrub.

She halted her work and looked up at him in the gritty light of his room, one of light bulbs had been knocked out. His eyes seemed deeper, far more serious than she thought they ought to be and it dawned on her that she and Mike had not been giving him enough credit. He wasn't just a kid, not with all the things he'd seen and experienced, sure his age said something very different but his mind was not that of a teenager's. "About your story? Well yeah, I have no doubts about what happened today."

"No, I mean the ghosts Jazz, do you believe me when I say there are ghosts?" he inquired firmly, forgetting that Danny Fenton didn't know Jazz met Danny Phantom today.

His sister sighed readily. "You know, yesterday I would have said no but now I'm not so sure," she dropped her shoulders and clutched the sponge. "It's just, Danny if ghosts are real mom and dad are right, about a lot of things. I'm not ready to admit it, I'm not ready to..." her voice tapered off with croak.

Danny paused in his own cleaning and his features softening with concern. "It's not like that Jazz, I swear," he comforted but it was far too late for that. The girl had already accepted that if her parents were right about the paranormal then they were right about him. "I'm still here, aren't I?"

She rubbed her eyes as inconspicuously as she could on her sleeve. She forced a smile but Danny could see the way it hurt her mouth to pull it upwards like that. Her eyes shone but not with the light of her usual bright personality but with the glassy reflection of tears being kept in the rims of her eyes. He hadn't considered how hard it would be for his sister to accept the idea that ghosts were real because he hadn't factored himself into the equation.

"You're right Danny," she shrugged and feigned a light chuckle, "they can't be right about everything can they?" She left no time for him to respond. "No, they didn't know it all. They couldn't."

Danny nodded with a frown, her denial was palpable and the guilt was eating at him.

"Mr. Lancer called," she announced in order to change the topic, "he said you've discussed the possibilities of returning to school for your Senior year."

Danny shrugged. "I just want to be normal for a while, do something teenagers do you know? Why is it a problem?" he asked.

She shook her head gently, the short strands of red hair fell back into perfect order. "No, I don't see a problem with that at all."

--

When Mike returned he saw the boy sleeping in his room and Jazz curled up on the bed in their room with a boxes of photographs sprawled out amongst the sheets. He stood in the doorway and sighed weakly catching her attention. Her head turned up at the sound and he could see the trails of tears that had streaked down her face. Briskly, the protective male walked toward the girl and sat beside her and wrapped an arm around her.

"What's the matter?" he asked softly.

She shook her head and gripped a photo of her and Danny when they were children between her thumb and index finger. "I don't know what to think anymore," she rasped, she'd been crying it was apparent.

"Is everything-"

"I think I saw a ghost today, is that crazy? Does that make me crazy? We keep telling Danny he's crazy for saying the same thing, so I must be crazy too."

Mike shook his head. "No, I saw one too. It attacked Danny, he wasn't making it up."

"He wasn't making it up," Jazz repeated back softly and brushed the edge of the photograph. "What do we do now? How do we protect him from this? I don't want to lock him away in his room and I don't want to follow him around everywhere...I just want him to be normal." She looked desperately to her closet friend and confident but he reflected the desperation back.

"I don't know Jazz, I just don't."

She sighed and looked at a particular photograph on the bed and then looked to her boyfriend. "I...I have to make a call." He gazed down and didn't have to ask, her fingers were poised towards the answer. Mike sighed heavily and rested a hand on her shoulder, she would not sleep tonight.

* * *

_man when's it gonna get exciting? Of course I know the answer to that, here's a hint, next chapter.  
_


	19. Chapter 19

Jazz and Mike were quiet most of the week, hardly glancing at Danny and hardly having the nerve to keep him under restraint. He was free to come and go and see Sam and she was welcomed back into the house. Jazz's mood seemed gloomy but Danny couldn't exactly pinpoint the reason, he'd been talking to her more now and even asked her to go places with him. Unfortunately his gestures didn't seem to lift her mood and she refused to talk about it, she said it had nothing to do with him but he knew it was lie.

Regardless of Jazz's distance Danny was happy; he was getting better at fighting ghosts and was even growing stronger both mentally and physically. His confidence had boosted ten-fold and he actually liked himself enough to keep his head up in public. He was an up-and-coming hero after all, he had every reason to have some pride and the newspapers though wavering on their opinion of Phantom were starting to pick a more positive angle. Life was finally changing and he no longer felt as though it were on the verge of ending. Mike was right, it was time for him to take control of his own life and destiny, he was free to do as he pleased.

Today Danny was floating; he'd finally decided that even if it was foolish he wanted to be closer to Sam emotionally. He wanted to let her know all his insecurities; he wanted her to know about everything he'd gone through when she'd left him. He wanted her to know that when he was fourteen he'd had a crush on her and that now, he didn't know how he felt exactly, but he did enjoy her company and friendship. Danny had a lot to tell her, a lot that would make him vulnerable and possibly make him fall again, but he couldn't care less anymore. Everything was new to him now and he was taking risks he never dreamed of taking.

He turned the corner and saw the girl standing there with another boy. His nostrils flared as he ducked into an alley before she saw him. His hand was on her waist, his eyes staring into hers, his voice deep and inviting. "Sam, babe, come on where have you been hiding lovely?"

"Somewhere you weren't supposed to find," she returned, was it spitefully or was it flirtatiously; Danny couldn't tell. He flattened against the wall and wished he could watch them without being noticed. He slammed his palm into his head and remembered that he could watch them without being seen; he had ghost powers after all. Danny turned invisible, seeped through the wall, and strangely found himself standing on the corner only a few feet from the two and they weren't any the wiser. He figured he could've stood right behind her and she'd never know that cool air was him.

"When are you going to come back?" he asked pulling her closer, she didn't pull away.

"I already told you, never again. You said you were okay with that," she replied calmly while allowing herself to be pressed against him. Danny's fists clenched.

"Yeah but you're never around," he retorted, "When am I gonna see you?"

She pushed him away with a sigh. "I already told you everything, Drew. I have more pressing matters to attend to and I can't be distracted anymore," she seemed to coo. "We had fun, really we did, but someone else needs me. He's always needed me, before you before anyone."

"Yeah, yeah, that Danny kid," the boy uttered grudgingly. His hold loosened on the girl but she didn't pull away and seemed to have no intentions of losing his body contact, where pleasure moments had hung before. "I wish I didn't have to share you, it just-it makes me so damn crazy I can hardly sleep."

She smiled at him and kissed him on the check, the boy then reflexively cupped her chin and pressed his lips against hers; it was more than Danny could stand. His fists unclenched and he chocked back a gasp and hurriedly made an escape. Somehow, beyond his control he had become tangible once more and effectively caught his foot against a trash can and fell against the three aluminum bins. His clumsy retreat garnered a lot of attention having caused a cacophony in the alley. Yelping and tripping over himself he took flight before Sam caught him spying on her, it's not as if he intended to but he had spied no matter how he cut it.

"Drew, I told you no," Sam retorted shoving him away forcefully. "We're over, we've been over, why won't you let go?" she demanded. They had ended their relationship as soon as Sam went clean and returned to Danny. She hadn't hoped for a relationship with her old friend but she had wanted to cleanse herself of a lot of things, including relationships she couldn't control. She and Drew had agreed to remain friends and nothing more but apparently the boy was still very interested pursuing something intimate with her.

Suddenly an unholy clatter brought their attention away from each other. "What the hell?" Drew exclaimed hearing the noise coming from the alley only a few feet away from them. Defensively he pulled Sam against his side, ready to defend her from any lurking dangers. The girl already spied the culprit just as he made his sky way escape. She sighed and wretched herself free of the protective grip.

"I've got to go," she stuttered and hurried away before the boy could utter a protest.

--

While lingering in the air with no real pursuit of anything Danny's thoughts ran away from him. It served him right for trying to become intimate with someone who had no direct attachments to him. He was stupid to think Sam would actually want to hear about all his troubles and feelings, they were stupid anyway. He was just her friend, but barely equal to her, she must've thought of him as more a child or a burden. His thoughts turned to static as his ghost sense went off and the teenager found himself interested in the new ghostly intruder. He waited on the roof a building, keeping quiet and alert for the enemy. Ghost hunting was becoming more and more of a game to him, and boy was it fun.

Finally he saw him, an adult aged ghost with pale blue skin and violent red eyes. It didn't take much for Danny to judge that the spirit was probably not of a benevolent nature, so cautiously Danny decided to follow him to insure that the ghost remained only a passerby in the town. At first the boy thought the ghost was aimless in his flight path but the longer he tailed him the more it seemed that the ghost was searching for something or someone. Then in a flash the ghost disappeared and Danny's pursuit came to a dead halt. He floated above the town and looked around seeing no sign of any object being lifted by invisible hands, nothing.

"You've got to be kidding," he muttered.

"I was about to say the same of you my dear boy." A smooth voice cut into the silent sky followed by a scream that Danny would later realize was his own.

He was knocked out of balance and went hurling toward a building's cement roof. Danny landed with a harsh thud and looked up through half lidded eyes, just now registering the pain. "What?"

"You've been following me," the blue faced ghost said coming to hover slightly above the cement near Danny. "And to think all this time I've been looking for you. You're the little halfa who uses his powers for _good_. Danny Phantom I presume."

Halfa had been a term that Danny had come to learn meant a hybrid like himself. It was a derogatory term that ghosts would used to talk of the odd creature that was neither all human nor all ghost. Danny pushed himself to his feet and clutched his hands into fists ready for a new attack. "I...Who are you?" he demanded trying his best to sound intimidating. He was failing horribly in that aspect, considering that he couldn't even see the first attack coming.

"They call me Plasmius, Vlad Plasmius. And you my boy are the second halfa in existence which is way I've been seeking you," Plasmius coolly explained.

Danny's green eyes shifted and he pointed to himself in shock. "Me? You've been looking for me?" he asked, "But how did you even know about me?"

The elder halfa gave a light chuckle. "My dear boy, every ghost in the Ghost Zone knows about you but I don't need to look there, your name is in the papers and on the news. You are no great secret and let me tell you something, because you are like me they will scorn your name."

"Ghost Zone?" he questioned feebly. He felt more like a child the longer he stayed in the presence of this man. This man Vlad, he had to be the one Sam had mentioned, the one from his mother's journal. He was real, alive, and just like Danny.

"Yes, my you don't know much do you? That is why I came for you, so you could join me. I can teach you everything I know and raise you as my own. I can take you away from all this," his hand swept in a fashion gesturing the town. "What do you say little Badger; join me and you will be all powerful."

The idea should have been tempting because here was someone just like him offering to teach him the ways of a halfa. That's what he was; he'd already learned something new just by encountering the stranger. There was something, something doubting and resisting, that made him heed the stranger's intentions. For some reason he couldn't shake the feeling that this man was of ill intention. He had the stoic grim face of a comic book villain and Danny found it hard to trust him.

"Why would you want to do that?" the teenager asked precariously.

A flash of fury streaked across the red gleaming eyes juxtaposed with a tender smile that graced the pale blue vampire face. "Why, my boy, don't you see we are alone? The only two alike in the vast universe, surely if anyone were to understand me it would be you," he explained.

At this point Danny's distrusting nature against him had found the flaw in the tempting man. He was faking his smiles and sincerity, he was trying to manipulate him but Danny didn't know why. His senses told him to run and to keep wary of the demon who tried to pass as a gentleman. "Look the offer sounds great and everything but I...uh don't think-"

"Foolish child, you can't even comprehend the mistake you're making. I ask you again to join me," Plasmius's voice had dipped into a deep violent tone, one that sent chills up the young boy's spine.

Danny shook his head and in that act of insolence was punished with an immediate ectoplasmic blast to the stomach. He plummeted from the sky toward the ground in a spin but he caught himself and pulled back up. The new found enemy was upon him in an instant with one hit after another. Danny didn't comprehend the brutality that was now being dealt to him mercilessly; he had only rejected an offer it wasn't as though he insulted the ghost. Pain and fear drove him to seek refuge somewhere, a hiding place that could act as a fortress against the violent half-ghost.

He flew towards the docks seeking a nice dark spot where he could recover and plan his attack. This was not going to be easy and it was tough for him to believe that he was outmatched. He landed in between two storage buildings and padded quietly through the alleyway looking for a good place to be undetected. He flinched at every noise and kept his eyes turned warily upward; the ghost wouldn't be far behind him. Exhausted already he slid behind a dumpster, it was hardly a hiding spot but it wasn't as though he had many options. He kept telling himself he only needed a minute, just one minute, to collect himself and he would be able to face the half-ghost confidently.

Hearing heavy footsteps Danny cringed and pushed himself against the wall, bracing for a fight. At the worst possible time he saw a lithe figure coming toward him. Inwardly he cursed the girl fervently for coming to assist him. If that ghost saw her he'd kill her and Danny wasn't about to let the happen. "Danny!" she called as she lifted him to his feet.

"Sam, hide!" he demanded while pushing her away, the intense green flair in his eyes filled her with fear making her back up.

"I won't leave you!" she responded forcefully but her composure was retreating. Her legs began to quiver making her stance considerably weak and unsure. "I-I came all this way to help you, and I'm not leaving now."

Danny grinded his teeth, his eyes searching hers with frustration and panic he needed her to leave. "This isn't a game Sam. Now listen to me and run and hide. Don't you dare come out until it's safe."

"But Danny-"

"Do as I say!" he shouted while more energy flared around him aggressively.

That ghost was coming for him and there was no doubt in the Phantom's mind that he'd kill the girl. She wanted to be brave and he knew that but now wasn't the time for her to be heroic. He was afraid of being hurt and having no backup but he was more afraid of losing her to his own battle. He felt relief wash over him as she obeyed and turned to run away. She disappeared somewhere he couldn't see, somewhere safe. Once out of sight Danny's mind reeled back to his potential enemy, now there was no distraction.

The laughter was maniacal and unsettling as it echoed through the stilled pier streets. Danny clenched his fists defensively and cracked his neck nimbly. His sharp green eyes surveyed the area around him, there was no more room for mistakes. This guy meant business and Danny didn't have any time to think twice.

The laughter began again and then the cold insane voice started speaking. "You know Daniel; I'm not the only one here that thinks life is just a joke. It must be, you see, because you and I aren't so different."

He hated the way he talked and the way he said his name, like he knew more then he cared to say. Like he could see directly into his soul and could pluck each insecurity one by one in a method of dismantling his being. A pink blast of energy came shooting out of seemingly thin air and struck Danny. Having no time to avoid the surprise attack he tried his best to counter the energy with his own. Unfortunately he miscalculated how powerful it was and was knocked down with a harsh thud. He rolled over and tried to get to his feet but stopped, wincing, as a figure appeared in his line of sight.

He walked slowly but purposefully, he wasn't afraid of the boy, he saw no threat. He came and stood over the boy letting his boot come down on his back flattening him out. "We are kin in our designs, little badger. We were abandoned by the same people for the same reasons. People, when they look at us see nothing but _freaks_. So that's what you are, what I am, a freak. A criminal, nothing but the scum of the earth, if you understood that then you wouldn't fight me."

Danny struggled under the pressure, the pain was overpowering and making his entire body shake. "I...I'm n-nothing like you," he sputtered trying to maintain an air of control.

"Why? Because you won't kill? Child you haven't even grasped the advantage you have over everyone else; excluding myself of course. They all fear death, why even the dead fear death. But you- you can embrace it, taste it, feel it. You become a living example of life and death as one; you've been dealt all the powers of the paranormal world while existing in the natural world. We _are_ alike."

Danny spit the blood out of his mouth braced himself and went intangible from beneath the other ghost's hold. He rose up from the ground behind him and blasted him in the back. The look on the man's face was amused shock, he hadn't expected that, but he wasn't upset. He let out another laugh and got to his feet. He clapped for the young boy and smiled maliciously.

Phantom enticed a chase fearing the probability of someone strolling along the empty pier and being caught up in their cross fire. He made a quick veer towards one of the warehouses and hoped that they would provide a better ground for him to fight on. Perhaps open areas were not best for him being so inexperienced in dealing with someone so much stronger. He landed on the ground and made a quick nervous look around but didn't spot the ghost anywhere. How could he have lost him; he'd only taken his eyes off him for thirty seconds if not less. He whipped around as something sharp caught him from behind. Plasmius had an amazing trick in which he could manipulate ectoplasm making his energy sharp and it cut deep.

Danny ignored his pain and curled up into a tight protective ball. He tensed his body and summoned as much ecto-energy as he could and as the ghost approached he leaped upwards releasing the energy. The all encompassing blast hit his opponent and knocked him back stunning him. What shocked the boy was that his enemy recovered quickly from the attack whereas he was drained for having used it in the first place. Suddenly it had become painfully clear that his best wasn't enough.

"No..." Danny whimpered to himself watching the blue skinned man stand back up and blast a beam. He crossed his arms and created a shield to deflect the attack.

"You're not very threatening my boy. Even if you do hurt me... that's all you'll ever do."

Vlad floated upward and hurtled himself at Danny, crushing him into the ground against a stack of wooden crates. Danny screamed as the crates shattered and stabbed into him at the immense impact, nothing could've been more terrible at that moment. His first instinct was to pull himself out of it or make himself intangible but he realized the damage had already been done. Nothing he could do would stop the grotesque agony seizing his entire body. Danny moaned in pain and fought the white rings that kept fizzling at his waist. He just needed to get to his feet and stand up straight, if he failed now his opponent would know just how weak he was. Weakness wasn't an option here and Danny knew that he'd have to pull through whatever was thrown at him, despite the pain and injuries.

"Now here's the difference between me and you. You think that you have something to prove by being the hero. They may need you right now but when they don't well you'd be surprised how civilized people will turn on you. Why even now they think you're an abomination, a freak. What could you possibly_ prove_ to them? Even if you could, at what cost little badger?"

"You're crazy," he panted desperately trying to breathe. He was starting to worry; he never felt the injuries to his human self unless they were serious. In fact he never felt his human half while still masquerading as Phantom, for the most part he was able to keep them separate, breathing included. He made a mental note to prepare for the worst if and when he changed back.

"I'm not. No, I'm not. I'm just ahead of the curve," he explained gently.

Danny struggled to his feet and felt a harsh punch in the stomach knocking him down again. The ghost wouldn't let him get back up or deal any hits. Plasmius was stronger and Danny couldn't deny it. His chest was on fire and he knew he was hurt badly. He winced at the thought of turning back to his human form and could hardly bear to imagine how painful that would be.

"If you're not crazy then why do you want to kill me?" Danny growled forcing himself to hover up and above the man.

He had to avoid him and try to distract him. He again took off exiting the warehouse fearing the multiple and much more fatal things he could be tossed against. He landed in the empty streets in a fighter's stance his gloved hands glowing, ready to counter anything thrown at him. The man landed ten feet away and with a smug grin began a slow intimidating walk towards the boy his cape swaying with his strong rigid movements. Danny felt his stance weaken as fear began enveloping him, he knew he wasn't in any shape to face this enemy anymore, but didn't know how to end this fight without dying.

"Kill you? I don't want to kill you! What would I do without you? No, no I'm trying to teach you a lesson right now. I need you Danny and you need me, you'll learn that in due time," Plasmius explained with his strange arrogant grin.

"Don't you ever call me by my name," Danny responded forcefully and attempted to throw a punch aiming for the man's pale ghostly jaw. But again it seemed this ghost was always a step ahead of him. He viciously seized Danny's arm and dangled him in the air pulling the boy's face close to his own blue one.

"The more you resist the worse it'll get. You _will_ surrender to me in time," he smiled in his threats. "But don't you ever forget, I'm not a patient man and I am _not_ above killing you."

With a laugh and seizing current of electric energy Plasmius shocked the boy, weakening him further, and disappeared in a swirl of ectoplasmic mist. Danny, no longer held up by the other ghost, crashed to the ground and unwillingly transformed. He'd fought off the urge the entire time but now no longer cared if the other ghost saw his human half. It wasn't worth protecting his secret if he had to die for it. Though the longer he lied there the more he was beginning to think that maybe that ghost did know him. Maybe he was only teasing him and biding his time before he began striking where it really hurt. Danny gasped weakly and choked on the notion, his eyes fell closed and he pressed his head closer to the cement, waiting.

He heard loud footsteps coming toward him and desperately he tightened his body up, ready for a new onslaught of misery and pain. He recoiled against the pavement wishing he could disappear but was unable to summon the energy to do so. Instead warm slender fingers found him and hoisted him into a comfortable and protective lap. Danny took heavy rasping breaths and slowly opened his eyes and saw pretty violet eyes regarding him with worry.

"Sam..." he croaked painfully.

She shook her head. "I shouldn't have left you. He nearly killed you; I should've been there to protect you-"

"Shut up. I'm glad you're safe," he responded softly. Her safety had been partially on his mind throughout the whole battle, it had to be. He was learning he needed to prepare for every extreme regardless of how improbable or he was likely to lose much more than just a fight.

A small smile pulled at her lips and she pulled him into a tight hug. He winced but didn't mind the affection; he had after all been beaten within an inch of his life. The smell of vanilla drifted around him as he breathed deeply while in her embrace, it burned to do so, but he felt so grateful to be alive at the moment that he no longer cared. This was another first; he'd never been so close to death, and come out of it happy. Before he'd be revived and wake up in the same restricted and debilitated existence as before. Now it was wonderful, he was in pain but from injuries he knew would heal, being alive didn't hurt anymore.

"How am I going to explain this to Jazz?" Sam inquired timidly while still holding his beaten body.

He felt terrible and tried to pry himself from her grip. "I'm getting blood all over you," he stated dryly while staring in her eyes.

She made a face at him and gathered him again in her arms. "Do you think I care?" she returned and gave him a squeeze. "Jesus Danny, I'd rather you bleed all over me and be alive and safe, then you being dead and me being clean. Let me enjoy the fact that you weren't killed, okay?"

He shrugged and let her rock him a little in the dead street. That timid mask she'd been wearing since she returned was breaking down and her old sarcastic and strong personality was reappearing. He was changing her but only back to what she used to be, back to the sweet yet tough girl he used to admire. Calmly he wrapped his hands around her arms and clutched her soft pale skin with his blood stain hands. He regarded the way the blood stained well on white but didn't let go. She was so warm and comfortable and he felt safe. He closed his eyes for a moment and breathed deeply. She was becoming less and less of a stranger to him and more and more his old best friend Sam. Someone he could be himself with, he hadn't had that in a long time, and he was bitterly aware he was losing Jazz in that aspect.

"Just tell Jazz I fell," he suggested as she finally let him go and had him sit up on his own. He almost teetered over but with a little help was able to balance.

She furrowed her brow and gave him a sort of humored look. "What? Down several flights of stairs?" she offered sarcastically. "Danny, have you seen yourself?"

"Quite obviously I haven't," he responded coolly while resting his slightly singed hand over his throbbing abdomen.

"Well to put it gently; no person in their right _mind_ would believe you _fell_, maybe hit by a truck, but not fell," she explained with a tinge of attitude on her tongue.

"Well, uh, tell her that," Danny offered while rubbing the back of his head trying to keep his hair from matting with blood.

Sam's mouth hung open. "Danny, I can't tell Jazz you were hit by a truck!" Sam protested while brushing the blood from under his eye gently. "That could get somebody in trouble, it could cause a scandal. What if they found out we were lying, what then? We'd have to cover two lies with a whole new lie. I also can't tell her you were attacked by a ghost."

"Why not?" he queried suddenly getting a spark of an idea. "I mean with the new surge of recent ghost attacks, it isn't unlikely, per say. It would be the truth, I _was _attacked."

Sam pursed her lips while turning the idea over in her head. It would be a factual statement to give the girl but it was questionable on what merit Jazz would take it. She feared the older girl might think her a liar and think that some drug shakedown occurred and they attacked Danny for compensation. Jazz would buy that much more than a ghost, but that would get Sam banned from Danny for life, she didn't want to risk that.

"I don't know Danny, Jazz never believed in the whole 'ghosts are real' thing," Sam objected softly while helping the young hybrid to his feet. Sam lowered her voice, her eyes falling to the side sadly. "And she never really believed you when you told her."

His eyes flicked up to her at a startling speed the moment the sentence tumbled off her lips. He couldn't keep his brow from furrowing in disgust because the girl was right. He stumbled a bit and nearly toppled over but with shaken effort he was able to stand. "Well it's the damned truth, ghosts are real. I'm real right?"

"Well that or I'm horribly insane," Sam muttered putting her hands on her hips. "And come on what are the chances of that?"

Danny cracked his neck and winced at the snapping sound. "Probably more likely then this reality," he said nonchalantly and looked at her horrified expression while smirking. "I'm kidding. For once in my life, I'm pretty sure this is real."

"Maybe...maybe you should tell Jazz the whole truth then," Sam said softly while offering him her body for a crutch.

She hoisted him up beneath her arm and offered him a good deal of support so he didn't fall over. He was still weak from the battle and needed help; she could still hear his heavy breathing as a sign of his struggle. "She'd have a melt-down. Me being half-ghost would destroy her mind, she couldn't handle it, she can't even handle the idea of ghosts. Besides...I can't keep putting everyone in danger because of this. It's gotta stay a secret."

"Danny one day your enemies will find out your identity. I mean if that ghost had stayed just a few seconds longer he'd have seen who you were," Sam countered while walking him down the street. "Besides don't you think it's time she knew so that she can help you instead of fight you?"

He gritted his teeth feeling as though his chest were on fire with the movements. His breath hitched slightly as they walked but he kept going through the agony. "Maybe you're right...but Sam what if she doesn't accept me? That ghost was right about one thing, I am a freak. I could become a test subject, I am an anomaly, something bizarre and inhuman."

"Danny..." Sam coaxed sympathetically. "Jazz loves you no matter who or what you are. She never cared what the world thought of you."

Sam hadn't realized how afraid he was of the world's opinion of him. She didn't see a freak when she saw him, she saw her friend, no matter what form he took. Apparently he didn't see himself that way.

"Where are we going?" he muttered his voice dying with the pain.

"Home," Sam answered softly, his head turned up to look at her and she returned the glance. "Not yours don't panic, mine."

* * *

_Whew that was a long one. Thank you for all your nice reviews I'm really glad you guys are enjoying this, this quick update was an reward for you. Also...it kinda helps that i had this one pretty much written out since the beginning heh. More to come  
_


	20. Chapter 20

"I'm gonna need you to take off your shirt," Sam requested gingerly as she walked into her room with some towels and a first aid kit. She saw him slumping over her bed his legs dangling off haphazardly, generally he looked like hell. She thanked the lack of parental control in her household because she knew she'd never be able to explain why there was a bleeding beaten boy in her room.

Danny complied with a shrug; it had never been awkward for him to have to adhere to request like that. He had after all spent a good amount of his teenage years being examined by countless doctors and nurses in endless procedures. She bit her lip looking at the damage that was already beginning to show. Dark bruises and different sized gashes were apparent and they looked painful. She then looked to his jeans and noticed blood was starting to seep through on his upper leg.

"Um Danny...you're going to need to take off...erm your pants," she added with a nervous blush.

He looked at her with a quirked eyebrow obviously finding the same nervous amusement from the request. He blushed a little as he tugged them off but was grateful that mankind had the glorious invention of boxers. It was strange and a little chilly for him to be sitting shirtless and pantless on Sam Manson's bed. He wondered how many other boys dreamed for this moment, Sam was very attractive and something told him she got attention at school.

He inwardly winced at the idea of other guys putting their hands on her. Suddenly images of a number of boys sitting in the same position flashed through his head making his stomach recoil. He shook his head as she came closer he had to sort these thoughts in his head. He wasn't sure if he was over-protective because she was like his sister or if he was just experiencing jealousy. He'd be a fool to think she was his alone and even more so to fall for her, he tried to recall the way he felt when she broke his heart. If he could just hold onto that maybe he could repel her.

"Are you alright?" she whispered bringing him back to reality; he hadn't realized he'd closed his eyes or that she'd been dabbing his wounds with a damp cloth. "I feel like I'm hurting you."

"Nonsense," Danny said waving and noticed just how bad his hands were shaking, "it would hurt either way."

She bit her lip and examined him further. "I don't know anything past first aid really. I can't even be sure I'm treating some of these wounds correctly. My grandmother only ever taught me simple patch up routines, cauterizing at the worst. I don't really want to stitch you..."

Danny looked at what she'd been looking at so doubtfully. There were towels pressed against the side of his abdomen but not covering the large gash. He grimaced remembering the way the wood had splintered around his body, jabbing into his side; he gritted his teeth and hissed. It was as if it were happening again and the pain was overwhelming. Sam promptly apologized but just before his vision lingered out he could see she had a piece of wood between her fingers.

His head got heavy and he fell backwards with a pained moan. Sam acted immediately and leaned over him gripping his shoulders to give him a gentle shake. "Danny," she called the panic ebbing into her voice, "Danny, come on open your eyes. You gotta stay with me." She became more frantic when he seemed almost unresponsive. She gave him another shake and stared at him her body tensed with fear and anticipation.

His hand shot up and took a hold of her wrist. "Please warn me before you do something like that," he said forcefully with his eyes still closed.

She let loose a heavy sigh and a weary smile found its way on her face. "I'm sorry," she offered now alleviated to see half lidded blue eyes staring up at her coupled with a faint smile. "Here let's get you more comfortable."

Sam carefully helped move Danny and the bundles of towels she'd positioned under his more serious injuries to her the center of her bed. She made sure his head was propped up under her two pillows and he was rested in a comfortable position. She quickly returned to her work and nimbly bandaged him up deciding against attempting to stitch up anything, knowing well he'd never be able to stand the pain.

"You don't have to fuss," he mumbled while laying straight and limp with his eyes closed.

She pursed her lips as she sat beside him collecting the towels and rested them on her lap. "I do you know," the violet eyed girl stated proudly.

"You know, Spiderman made this look easy," he groggily mused. "I'm glad you're here Sam, I don't think Mary Jane could've done better in handling this."

She smiled at him sadly. "I still think you should talk to Jazz about this. I'm happy to be there for you Danny but this may be too dangerous to keep from her, she's your sister and-"

"I couldn't take it if she never accepted me for what I am. She may not even see me as her brother any more. She's all I've ever had in the world..." he sounded so far off, barely coherent, she knew he was speaking from his soul.

The eccentric girl hated to have a serious conversation with him when he wasn't composed but she knew the matter was too serious to wait. He was vulnerable now and she was getting the raw truth and it was tough to swallow. Danny may fight a hero's battle but he wasn't indestructible and he wasn't limitless. He was weak just like everyone else but he just knew how to hide it in the heat of a battle.

"My own parents Sam...they can't stand the sight of me, they abandoned me. Jazz stuck by but how could she if she saw what I really am, what I've always been. The world will never accept me and Jazz can only be stretched so far..."

"Danny that's not true, why would she give up? I didn't, I know you Danny and I know that no matter what you look like or do you're a good person with the best intentions. I think she'd be just as proud."

"I'm afraid of everything," he groaned and his head lulled over not even realizing how he struck Sam with his honesty.

Sam sighed, defeated, and ran her fingers through his hair. Like it or not he'd taken on a responsibility and an identity that held all the weight of the world on his shoulders. He'd taken a stake in the world where he had very little to gain and everything to lose. While she watched him sleep she realized the matter was final, he'd never tell anyone else. Out of respect for his wishes Sam made her own personal vow, he'd protect the lives of many and she'd protect his. She'd take it all to her grave if she had to, knowing that was just what he intended to do. It was the least she could do because he was looking out for everyone but number one.

When Danny finally woke up he was treated to the unmistakable grating sound of muffled sobs. He rubbed his head in groggy confusion and realized he was still in Sam's room and it was late; Jazz was going to kill him. He sat off the edge of the bed but didn't see the girl who he could hear crying distinctly. Wondering what was troubling her he wandered toward the sound, hardly even feeling any pain from the injuries from the rather violent ghost fight. He found her sitting disheveled on the floor of her private bathroom, surrounded by bloodied towels. The sink was reddened with the blood from her hands.

"Sam?" he asked cautiously wondering if letting her play nurse was a good idea; maybe she couldn't handle it.

Her response was a wide-eyed stare and a sudden yelp. All the tears seemed to dry up and her face was starched white. "You okay? You look like you've seen a ghost," he stated ironically, giving her a smile.

She pointed a shaking finger at him and shook her head. "No, no, no, you were dead. You _were _dead."

"Well yeah, that's kinda been established a while ago," Danny said giving her a confused look; was she mocking him? He couldn't for the life of him grasp what her problem was. Regardless, he walked over to her and joined her on the floor. "Seriously Sam, you're freaking me out."

"I'm freaking_ you_ out? You weren't ghost dead, you were Danny Fenton dead," she explained taking a calming breath and dropping her hands between her knees. "I tried everything to get you to wake up...you just wouldn't wake up."

"I guess I was tired." She turned her head to stare at him wide-eyed and in disbelief. "Look, Sam I'm fine and most definitely not Danny Fenton dead."

"Well you were," she argued firmly while crossing her arms. "I know you were but I can't prove it." Danny sighed reproachfully and let his hand dust over the rather large bandage on his side. He winced at the memory of being thrown into those wooden crates and then rested his hand over it.

"Does it hurt?" Sam asked softly having been watching him warily.

Danny patted his head and shook his head with wide blue eyes. "No, not at all," Danny answered as a wave of realization washed over him. "In fact I feel great."

She cupped her hands loosely and raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding."

He shrugged and shook his head again. Furrowing her brow Sam leaned over him and slowly began to loosen the bandaging to inspect what she distinctly remembered to be a rather brutal gash. She clearly recalled thinking it had been the injury that had killed him; it had to have been three or four inches deep. They both looked in amazement to see that the wound was almost just a scar now, as if he had gotten it weeks ago. Sam nimbly brushed her fingers over the smoothed over skin, unable to grasp that only three hours ago it had been bleeding at an alarming rate. Holding her hand on his side she silently met eyes with him to find that he shared her look of surprise; impulsively she wrapped her arms around his neck and held onto him as though her life and his depended on it.

Danny returned her hug with a loose arm around her back until he felt her shake; quickly he gathered his strength and locked her tightly in his arms. "Don't worry about it," he said gently. "Just think of this as a new ghost thing, it's not so bad Sam, it's not."

"This is too real," she murmured.

"It's not that bad, really." He hoped she believed him because at least it would make one of them.

xxxx

All Danny could think to do was slam his head repeatedly into the wall, he didn't but he wanted to. He had just received a frantic call from Sam begging him to come help, telling him there was a ghost, but he was uneasy about responding. The ghost attack was happening at the high school and suddenly he was wracked with anxiety. Sure the kids and teachers wouldn't know he was Danny Fenton but he'd still have to face them and save them; the very same people that had spread ugly rumors and told false stories until Danny Fenton was believed dead. He really hated when people thought he was dead.

He kept telling himself he was ready to go back to society but he was starting to realize that he may not be able to. He had changed so much and had missed so much. Connecting to people wasn't something he did well and now that he had even more to hide it would be incredibly difficult to make friends, or even acquaintances. How could he face any of them? He was so far from being like them, he'd missed everything.

His flight to the school was agonizing. He kept oscillating between his need to protect Sam and his fear of the public. People scared him, they were capable of great compassion and, as he learned in the past few years, great brutality. When he reached the looming building he hesitated at entering and watched as students flocked out screaming for help. No one had come, at least not yet. Danny zipped past them and went through the double doors in search of whatever had caused the terror.

He found Sam first; she was standing against a side wall in attempt to avoid being trampled by the panicking students. "Danny," she called sharply motioning for him to come over. "It's in the lunch room."

"_Brave New World_! Miss Manson, run!" a teacher cried seeing a dangerous being hovering over the student.

"Was that Mr. Lancer?" Danny returned looking at his violet eyed friend.

A faltering smile appeared on her face. "I gotta run, they can't think we're connected. Just go to the lunch room, trust me you'll find the ghost."

Danny heard a loud bang and the two recoiled. "I could've guessed." Sam broke away from him disappearing into the crowd barely able to give him a last reassuring glance.

As Danny continued his flight over the throngs of students acting like a herd of crazed beasts he began to hear them take notice of him. Some screamed louder others started passing names along through the crowd. Danny was aware his ghost half had not been exactly off the radar. The town of Amity Park recognized him as one of the many "attacking" ghosts. He really hated that.

"Hey is that Inviso-Bill?" some cried as he made his way past the fleeing students.

"What the-" Distracted by the idiotic name he missed the flying fist made of meat that slammed him down the hallway. Danny struggled out of the meat pile and nearly vomited to find that the meat wasn't ghostly. "Good thing Sam left," he mused, "'cause even I think this is gross."

"Oh dear, are you alright?" a sweet saccharine voice questioned.

Danny looked up and rubbed his arm for effect as he met eyes with an overweight ghost that was dressed to work the lunch line at any school. Her pale pink lips were pursed in a half-smiled as she gazed at him with concerned spectral eyes. He sniffed for a moment and immediately got a terrible feeling in his stomach. Every ghostly instinct he had was telling him that though she appeared friendly now she was surrounded by her own malcontent energy. For a moment his more rational human mind battled with his feral ghost urges. The ghost in him wanted to attack without formulating a single plan but the human in him told him to counter her carefully, gauge her reactions and go from there. Maybe this didn't need to be violent.

"I think so," he responded firmly hiding his own violent urges with his calm voice.

Her features seemed to soften for a moment but then suddenly her face fell and regressed into a twisted scowl. "Too bad because you're well being isn't on my menu of doom!" she cried viciously as all the meat that had been in a pile on the ground lifted into the air and swirled around them in a maelstrom of beef.

The ghost boy quirked an eyebrow in amusement and shock; was she serious? Were all ghosts this...eccentric? He had come here expecting a serious battle that could very well mean life or death. But it seemed here that this melodramatic ghost was, at her worst, only going to chuck meat at him. Sure he'd be grossed out and would probably need to shower excessively but this was hardly a fight, at least the kind he was looking for. Maybe this whole paranormal thing wasn't so bad after all; at least it was worth a few laughs.

Danny blasted her backwards and the ghostly lunch lady retorted with a slab of mystery meat that nearly slapped into his face. Intangibility was a good defense against her though. In the brunt of the battle, wherein Danny was now making a game out of dodging the various cuts of meats something metallic clanged into his skull.

"Oops, sorry," he heard a meek girl call.

He turned his green eyes on the voice and saw Sam crouching in the corner of the hallway. She waved at him nervously with a big awkward smile on her face; obviously she had poor aim. He looked to the floor while shaking his head and saw the Fenton Thermos lying on the linoleum between a beef patty and a pork chop.

"Danny, look out!" Sam called.

Too late a mountain of ghostly driven meat slammed him into a wall, the ghostly lunch lady laughed. Sam raced forward and grabbed the thermos she'd originally tried to give to him. Had she aimed better she probably wouldn't have distracted him like that and he probably wouldn't be pinned to the wall. Uncapping it she aimed it at the ghost and pressed the small button.

Danny darted out of the way lest they repeat their previous mistake, that is to say _mistakes_, of trapping him in the thermos. With a feigned sigh the half-ghost landed near her. "Shouldn't you be running from the spooky ghost?"

She smiled to see he wasn't angry with her. "Heh, I ain't afraid of no ghosts," Sam returned in amusement and gave the thermos a shake. He landed beside her and smiled in politeness; that joke wasn't very funny but he wasn't going to rob her of the opportunity to use it. "You okay?" she asked.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I could use a shower but yeah I'm alright."

"Then you should probably get back, you know before you start to reek." She held her nose in feigned disgust but when he didn't seem to want to play along she gave up the charade. "Danny, everything okay?"

He looked around the still empty hallways, now littered with various meat bi-products, and gave a nod. "Yeah, just...it hasn't changed at all."

Sam shifted on one foot and then the other, wrapping her left arm around her arm to grip the right one. She knew he hadn't set foot in a school since he was a freshman and she knew that didn't settle right with him. He didn't like things that reminded him of what he missed out on and he especially didn't like things that reminded him that he was different. Sure, he wanted to come back to school for his senior year but he knew the dynamics would be difficult to conform to. "What did you expect?"

Danny blinked suddenly, pulled from his thoughts. He guessed it wouldn't be truthful if he said he'd expected the school to have fallen in some way without him. He knew that it didn't matter the school whether or not he was there. "Nothing, I guess."

"Sam? Miss. Manson,_ Lord of the Flies,_ can you hear me?"

Sam gritted her teeth and sent a fearful expression to Danny. Lancer was looking for her, he probably thought something terrible had happened. As for Sam, it did matter if she was there and it especially mattered that she was accounted for. Danny shook his head, his white hair falling over the spectral green eyes he still wasn't ready to call his own. "I better go," Danny said softly.

* * *

_Sorry guys for the hiatus on this, I had some revisioning to do just because I felt it necessary, it probably wasn't. Also I've been really busy and trying to actually focus on my art for a while, I kept saying I'd stop drafting so many damn comics and actually start one. That hasn't happened yet, art school is gonna be a killer next year but I promise I'll always write. Again sorry for the wait, feel free to yell mean things at me. _


	21. Chapter 21

"Word on the street is you're buddy-buddy with Inviso-bill," Valerie announced as she slapped down a photo of Danny Phantom on the table where Sam was trying to eat her lunch. The pale skinned girl gawked at the clipping with a sudden instant of raw fear; Danny's ghostly green eyes were staring unknowingly up at her. She looked to her rather unsavory classmate with a blank expression.

"What are you talking about Valerie?" Sam questioned and set her tofu melt down; was it too much to ask to get some peace and quiet in public? Her eyes shot up to meet with the sea foam blue of the vivacious girl from school.

"Don't play dumb with me Manson, you know the ghost-boy and you're going to tell me where he's hiding." Valerie clenched her fists at her side tightly, she would never forget how ghosts had ruined her life.

Danny had warned Sam that he was almost positive that the mysterious red ghost huntress was actually Valerie. He had no proof yet but the voice and attitude were almost dead ringers. Sam had placed Valerie under the must-avoid list even though as fellow outcasts they could've made good friends. Surveying Valerie, Sam read her expression desperately for any clue that she might know just who the ghost-boy was; if she'd already traced him back to her then it was only a matter of time until she traced him back to the source: Danny.

Sam sat back and cleared her throat, her glare staying consistent. She had to keep cool, she couldn't let on that she was even affiliated with Phantom let alone his active sidekick. "Alright, A: you're crazy. And B: even if I did know what you were talking about I wouldn't have to tell _you_ anything."

"So then you admit it, you know the ghost-boy."

Sam's mind raced as she remembered parting ways with Danny earlier that day. He'd been swamped with minor ghost fights and had asked her to leave so that he could stop worrying. She'd complied because she knew she got in the way. It was easier for him if she wasn't around but now it was her turn to worry. What if Valerie was the red huntress; if that was the case then she was getting awfully close to her kill. Too close for comfort, Sam thought.

"No," Sam cried and clenched her fists at her side. She would protect Danny from this girl, if he was right then Valerie was out to destroy him. "I know _of_ him," she narrowed her eyes, "and that's it."

Valerie scoffed, Sam always narrowed her eyes when she was lying. She'd seen it before, they were coworkers and classmates after all, she knew Sam better than she liked to admit. "Then where were you during the ghost attack this morning?" It had been hard not to notice the eccentric girl was missing; especially when she had done a head count to make sure the ghosts hadn't taken any students. Valerie was trying to protect people, she couldn't understand why Sam was getting so defensive. Even if the girl was on to her, there was no reason for her to be upset.

"Uhh hiding in a locker to avoid getting killed by those ghosts," Sam answered quickly, maybe a little too quickly. For now she'd have to cut her losses. "Why, where were you?"

Valerie gritted her teeth and covered the fancy looking watch on her wrist that Sam was eying now. No one knew her secret she was sure of that; there was no way the class misfit figured it out. "With the class, duh."

"Really?" Sam asked in amusement and took a sip of her Nasty Shake. "Well, Mr. Lancer asked me if I'd seen you after the fight occurred. Strange, I'd think he'd have known if you were with the class." She set down the cup poignantly; Valerie wouldn't win this fight not when Sam had more to protect.

Valerie snatched up the picture from the girl. "I know you're hiding something Manson, and believe me I will find out," she warned darkly. "I'll be watching."

"I'll see you at work Valerie," Sam teased and waved as the girl stalked off.

Once Valerie was out of sight Sam pushed her food away and fought the urge to throw up. Her nerves were shot, she'd never considered what would happen to Danny if people found out about him. Now it was all she could think about.

xxxx

"Danny," Jazz began softly as her brother was greeted to a sight she knew he didn't want to see

The teenager backed up into the doorway clearly regretting his decision of ever coming home. He couldn't consider it a home if there were these strangers intruding upon it. "What did you do?" The sister recoiled; she could've sworn his eyes were green now. "What did you do Jazz?"

An auburn haired woman stood up as the teenager pressed his back against the door, like a trapped animal. "Danny," she began gently, extending her hands in a gesture of openness. She needed to calm him down before he lost his head.

"Don't talk to me," he spat shooting her a glare. "And you," he looked to the man hatefully, "who do you think you are? You have some nerve coming here."

"Danny this isn't about us as parents," Jack sympathized. His son looked so upset that they were here and he couldn't deny that it hurt. Despite what he had done, what he had renounced, he still loved the boy in some way. At least in a way someone loves a person they've lost touch with, the memories are still good but there is no possibility of a future. Jack had long accepted that he would not see his son turn into a man and yet somehow he was seeing that Danny was on his own way there, and maybe that was what hurt the most. Their son didn't need them and probably never would.

"I don't see why we can't talk about that," Maddie returned. She had not cut her children out of her mind completely, she couldn't seem to do it no matter how she acted. She still cared that her daughter was struggling and she still cared whether or not Danny lived or died. She just couldn't face them, the children she had failed and the son she was killing. He was sick because of her and because of Jack; the accident could've been avoided and they all knew it. Still she wanted to be involved with them and often entertained thoughts of her children forgiving her and loving her once again. She, unlike Jack, was still under the delusion that her youngest wasn't going to mature without parental guidance.

The red haired young woman stood up to deter what she could've sworn was a near pounce from her brother. "Now is really not the time," Jazz said firmly while giving her mother a glance. She then turned to her brother.

Cautiously Jazz strode over to Danny who looked like he was about to lash out like a threatened animal would. With a slight hesitation she put a hand on his shoulder and the tenseness seemed to ebb a bit. "I called them about your problem little brother," she said quietly. She sighed when his eyes looked blue again.

He looked to her and then to them. "They shouldn't be here, we can figure this out without them." He wasn't far from falling to his knees and begging her to cast them out. "Please Jazz." Couldn't she see how desperate he was; couldn't she see how sick they were making him?

Jazz listened to his argument, as she always did, with open-minded respect. She flashed him a sad smile and tightened her grip on his shoulder. "No," she said softly and saw the tears of disbelief prick in his eyes, "we can't. You're still getting attacked, aren't you?" She brushed the small bruise on his temple that he had tried to cover with his hair. His eyes searched her frantically, pleading for mercy. "I know they hurt you, they hurt me too, but they may be the only people in the world that can help." Her face was understanding and her words quiet, but he was stricken.

This was more than he could handle, his chest tightened and his eyes became glassy. Sometimes Jazz could make all his anger disappear but at the same time she could make him want to break down and cry. He'd tried to forget just how bad his own parents had wounded him. In his memories he played it off as though he hadn't cared, that he didn't care about anyone. But he had cared; he'd loved them all his life and they left him with no warning. They left him to die. Jazz usually shielded him from the abandonment by playing the hero who staved off the monsters from his life. Today she opened the door for those same monsters and invited them back in; she was making him face them.

Then just like that, the pain was raw and searing as if it had just happened again. Seeing the family together was killing him because they weren't a family anymore. His mother and father were strangers, with faces reflecting his idea of evil. He turned his head away from his sister so he didn't cry. Sometimes he couldn't remember how his mom had cared for him, all he could picture was Jazz. And there she was, like always, trying to comfort him and keep him sane.

Slowly she guided him to have a seat beside her and he submitted silently. He refused to open his mouth, he just sat there, mute and blank faced while she sat beside him with a hand perched on his shoulder. Maybe she was secretly trying to hold him back so he didn't try to run or attack. "So, I called you here because I want to discuss another problem that has come from the accident."

"More health problems?" Maddie asked intuitively. She stole a wistful glance at her raven haired son; once upon a time ago, she was the only one who could calm his irrational temper. Now she was the cause of his anger and his sister was the elixir.

Jazz shook her head. "No, not at all. I think, well we think, that maybe the exposure has...well..." She glanced between the two prided ghost hunters. "I'm willing to concede that maybe I had been wrong about ghosts." She'd practiced saying that in the mirror all morning and it still sent a shiver up her spine.

"Well of course, if we haven't told you once we've told you a million times. Ghosts are real," Jack responded.

She rolled her eyes. "Well the problem is, these "ghosts"," Jazz paused to pantomime quotation marks with her fingers, "have been going after Danny."

The two parents cast their surprised eyes on Danny who turned his head away to articulate that he wasn't interested in talking about it with them. "How do you mean?" Maddie asked her violet eyes still studying the changed teenage boy that she used to call her own.

"I don't know how else to put it. Maybe the ectoplasm he was exposed to makes him a target, but whatever it is, they've been attacking and actually doing some physical damage." She reached over and once again exposed the bruise on his face; he didn't react. "They can touch him and I don't know how to stop them."

Maddie laughed bitterly. "So, you can't take care of him anymore and you come crawling back to us? After all you've put us through Jasmine?"

Jazz's turquoise eyes lit up in a spark of unbridled rage for a moment. She gritted her teeth and Danny felt her grip tighten on his shoulder, he glanced over at her and saw the defensive look on her face. He didn't claim to understand what his mother meant but he did understand that it upset his sister. The sister who had selflessly sacrificed everything just to look after him. No one had any right to insult her or deny her respect. He looked at his mother except she wasn't his mother any more, she was a woman he despised.

"Hey," he growled suddenly causing the whole room to fall into a dead silence. "You just shut your damn mouth," he continued aggressively, his eyes alight with a deep hatred. "All Jazz has ever done is clean up the mess you made. If it hadn't been for her I'd be dead." He may not have known a lot but he knew that he loved his sister and he'd fight to the death for her. No one was allowed to hurt her, not with him around.

"Danny," Jazz said softly and looked down, "it's okay, you don't have to defend me."

"What?" He looked at her in bewilderment. "Jazz you don't have to take that, not from anyone, but especially not from _them_."

She lifted her head and he pulled away from his sister to see the look of false acceptance. "No, no, they're right. I put them through hell too. Don't you think they'd have taken you back by now if I hadn't won custody?" Danny searched her face in confusion, he hadn't been aware of any custody hearing. She smiled at him. "When things got really bad when you were fifteen and and you got really sick I took them to court, they'd wanted you back."

"And your sister took you away from us and forced us out of your life." Danny stared at his mother who had a stern look on her face. "I'll admit leaving was a mistake but I needed a few months to just get my head together, for you Danny." The boy looked over to his father who had found more pleasure in the carpet than in his family's involvement. "She kept you from me sweetie."

"I...I..." How could he have not known; was everything he knew wrong? His mind went reeling in a sudden question of reality. The last thing he needed know was a complete and utter change of perspective but it seemed he didn't have much choice in the matter.

"Only because you weren't thinking straight." Jazz remembered clearly the delirious conversations she'd had with her mother as the woman lost her grip on reality. The dead eyed stares, the twisted grins, and worst of all the growing collection of funeral arrangement ideas that had been consuming her mother's entirety. She never forgot the night she watched the woman walk out of their lives with self-contained confidence. "How could you have been stable enough to keep him stable?"

"How dare you lecture me on parenting young lady, you're too young to know what it's like." Maddie on the other hand didn't remember how bad she'd gotten. Her mind respectfully repressed the memories of her temporary loss of sanity due to excessive stress and grief. She didn't realize how unfit she'd been.

"Oh yeah because you're mother of the year."

Jack knew how unfit he'd become and had left first. He knew his wife followed suit for the same reasons but now she was in denial. Maddie was proud, she would never accept that she too had lost faith in her son. He remembered clearly the day she found him and told him with confident glee that she had decided to start over with him. He just never had the heart to tell her that they'd both been running away from a very real problem. He'd tried to convince her to keep from bringing up the idea of being a family again because he knew she didn't see just how wrong she had been. There was a reason Jazz has been declared legal guardian over both parents in a court of law.

No one in their right mind would think that he or Maddie were fit to be parents after all that they'd done.

"Now you listen to me-"

"Shut up! Both of you. I...I need to think."

"You're confused sweetie, because of the lies your sister has been feeding you." Maddie remembered Jazz standing before the judge and explaining to him that her parents were to blame for her brother's sickness. She couldn't believe her daughter had the nerve to betray her own parents. She couldn't let her daughter corrupt Danny too.

"No, Jazz never lied to me," he croaked, though he did edge away from the girl.

His mother's voice cut in like a tempting demon. "Are you sure?"

His blue eyes flicked up and analyzed the woman sitting in a chair diagonally from him. She looked sweet and gentle and he longed for her love. Something in him screamed that it wouldn't be as easy as simply hugging her and believing whatever she told him. Despite everything he'd seen and done he still knew truth and honesty.

"Yeah," he whispered and the confusion lifted from his shoulders. Following a wayward glance at his sister he smiled at his mother. "Jazz never told me that you guys didn't love me, she never told me that you were gone for good. In fact she only ever told me that things would get easier."

He felt her reach over and grip his hand with pride. He turned his face to her and smiled affectionately at the only family he could ever need. "I don't doubt that she's only done what's best for me. Hell, I'm still alive so she must be doing something right."

Jack Fenton looked at the two young adults sitting together on the couch. He bit his lip and fought the tears that threatened in the wake of something so beautiful. He, himself, may have failed but his children managed to prevail. They were strong, determined and more amazingly they had become this way by their own graces. He could see in their eyes the fight they had put up to get where they were today. Still, they had more to face but they were clearly going to do it together. Danny and Jazz had learned to need each other for support, for strength, and love.

And of course there was the simple yet complex fact that Danny was still alive. He shouldn't have been. Jack had only joined his wife in the fight to see their fifteen year old in the hospital because he just wanted to see him before he died. His last memory of the boy had been murky and he didn't want to hear his son had died without a clear memory of his face. Of course they had lost that fight but Jazz had been gracious enough to send them pictures while they sent her child support.

He looked at Danny now, he was a a lean looking seventeen year old but clearly he was full of livelihood. Jack noticed the hints of muscle tone and the slight tan of healthy skin; Jazz had done an incredible job. Somehow he couldn't shake the belief that he and his wife's negativity had been dragging the boy down further into the depths of his sickness. He had needed someone to push him to overcome it and Jack had known it wouldn't be him. Jazz had taken control of a seemingly hopeless situation and forced necessary changes that all played a part in saving Danny's life.

"He has a point Maddie," Jack finally spoke. "I'd like it if we put the animosity of the past behind us and just do what we can now." The woman backed down into her seat speechlessly. The weary faced father met eyes with the confident youth as her husband spoke. "Danny, you can have whatever you want from your life; you've earned it. You don't have to forgive us or ever see us again but let us help you, if only for this one last time."

Danny nodded firmly and sat back. "Alright, fine. So," he lifted an eyebrow, "what do you intend to do?"

"We have plenty of equipment suited for ghost hunting, or more so in your case, ghost fighting. We can offer you whatever we have so you can at least protect yourself."

The half-ghost gulped as he imagined his time spent in the thermos. His parent's weapons weren't exactly made to be held by ghostly hands unless of course said hands wanted to be dissolved. Quickly Danny stuffed his fists into his pockets. Maybe he could humor his sister and pick up a box of things from his parents and just give some to Sam so Jazz thought he was using them.

"That might be good," Jazz returned politely.

Maddie perked up as she mentally listed off the many gadgets she had so meticulously labored over. "We're nearly done perfecting The Fenton Ghost Shield," she added. For now she would cast aside her damaged pride. "A few field tests and we can bring it right over, you can create a perpetual force field around the house to keep any ghosts out.

Danny shifted his eyes and tried to imagine how he would explain why he couldn't get into the apartment to Jazz once she put that contraption up. The gears began turning in his mind as he began to make up different ways he could create an air of security for his sister while sabotaging most of the inventions his parents would send. The shield would have to be the first thing he'd have to dismantle, if he could, and that meant once he did he'd have to work extra hard to make sure no ghosts got inside.

It would be hard and he'd have to stretch himself even thinner but if Jazz could do it for him than he could do it for her. He tried to warm up to the idea but just as his mind wrapped around the ridiculous lengths he was going to go through a freezing feeling seized his breath. Ever vigilant, Jazz instantly noticed the hesitation in his breathing and the slight shudder of his body.

"Danny are you okay?" she asked and all eyes turned on him. He smiled vacantly and nodded while trying to avoid scanning the room furiously. It was just his luck that a ghost would show up when his estranged ghost hunter parents were in the same room as him. They knew well about Phantom, he was sure. Everyone seemed to by now, he'd been noticing his ghostly face started appearing online, then in magazines, and even a few times on the front page of the newspaper.

He nodded weakly. "Um yeah...I just..." An electric feeling seized him and he shuddered again, the ghost's energy was getting closer. "Do you think I could go lie down?"

Jazz gripped his shoulder and he could feel the slight hints of panic ebbing off of her. "Of course," she responded gently. "Is everything..." He nodded curtly and saw her offer a weak smile; she didn't believe him.

Danny stood up and left the room as quickly as he could, not wanting to waste any more time. For a moment he stood behind the closed door to his bedroom, listening, waiting. The voices of his family were clipped in haste for a moment until finally he heard Jazz regain control of the conversation. They'd decided to let him rest, she'd check on him in an hour. With a sigh of relief Danny let his ghost side take control in a chilling display of light. He had an hour to beat the ghost, get back, and pretend to sleep; he was sure he could handle that.

"So, I don't feel particularly comfortable with just handing a seventeen year old weapons," Jazz said to her parents.

"What choice do you have?" Jack asked with a shrug. The red head blinked pensively for a moment and ingested the question.

Maddie sighed. "I don't like it either but I'd feel a lot better knowing he was protected." She eyed the girl for a moment and regretted fighting her. For all the injustices she had felt from her daughter she knew the girl had done everything to do the one thing the parents had neglected to do; she protected Danny. Sometimes she shielded him from himself and other times from a sickness and now that he was facing new dangers the ever present sister rose up to the new challenge. Maddie had to concede that the girl had submitted a lot of pride to call them and ask for help. "Well, more protected than he already is," the mother added softly.

Jazz's eyes lit up with a moment of grateful respect. Faintly her lips curved into a smile as she stared at her mother. "Do you really mean that?"

Maddie opened her mouth but was silenced as the three heard a loud bang coming from the other room. Jazz was on her feet in a second, fists clenched, and eyes sharpened. "That came from Danny's room," she stated quickly. The girl was off toward the door and the hesitant parents trailed her warily. Gripping the nob with a fearful intensity she pried it open. Her eyes focused and she blinked with a gasp. "No."

The two adults huddled behind the girl, barely seeing into the room. "What is it?" Maddie questioned with trembling hesitation.

"He's gone..."

* * *

_busy busy block block busy. updating when I can, you see._


	22. Chapter 22

"This just...this...I don't even..." Jazz looked out the window scanning the area. She realized her parent's eyes were on her and they were waiting for some kind for explanation. Jazz didn't really have one. Danny didn't disappear like this, not unless there was some kind of...

"Ghost!" Jack cried and pointed toward the sky.

The three of them crowded the window frantically. In the distance they could just barely make out a black and white figure. Just as soon as he was seen he disappeared behind a building. "He got away," Maddie growled. "That has to be Inviso-Bill."

"Inviso-who?" Jazz asked suddenly.

"Inviso-Bill, he's the notorious ghost boy we've been trying to hunt down," Maddie explained as she patted her holster.

Jazz blinked. "Is he dangerous?"

Jack crossed his arms. "Extremely, we've never had to fight him ourselves but a few ghost hunters have told us he isn't a force to be taken lightly. We believe he has intentions to hurt humans due to an extreme envy of those who are still alive."

The young woman wrung her hands together nervously. "Is it possible he took Danny?" She couldn't bear the thought of her little brother being stolen from the sanctity of her home. But it wasn't possible that he had slipped out the window on his own. They weren't on the ground level and even if he had attempted to jump he would've broken something. It wasn't possible that he had left on his own unless he had suddenly gained the ability to fly. That wasn't possible either.

Maddie's eyes widened. "You did say ghosts had been after him because of his ecto-impurity, right?" Jazz nodded quickly. "Then he's our number one suspect."

"We better hurry then," Jack stated. "Saddle up the Fenton Assault Vehicle Maddie, we best hit the road."

"Hurry? How much danger is Danny in?" Jazz demanded fearfully. She called her parents to avoid this kind of thing from happening. Maybe she had waited too long to intervene. The ghosts had seemed to have become periodically more hostile toward her brother. Maybe this had been long-coming, she regretted doubting Danny in the first place. That had been the biggest mistake of her life and if she had endangered his, she would never forgive herself.

Maddie turned to her estranged daughter sympathetically. "Ghosts who envy life often take it in order to quell their feelings of injustice."

xxxxxxx

Danny capped the thermos happily and smiled. "Thanks for the save Sam." It hadn't been an extremely difficult ghost to fight but it had certainly been an ornery one. He'd left his thermos behind in the heat of the moment and the only way to stop the restless spirit was by capturing it. He really didn't have time to waste on such an obnoxious ghost. Calling Sam was always a last-ditch plan because he didn't like getting her involved. Sometimes it was necessary and she could be extremely helpful, especially in tight situations like this.

The girl smirked as he tossed it back to her. "Any time." She held the metal cylinder thoughtfully. "Are you sure you don't want this back?" she asked.

Danny shook his head. "No, you keep it. I want you to have it for protection." She rolled her eyes. "Seriously Sam, it's only a matter of time before these ghosts realize you're on my side. The last thing I want is for them to go after you."

She sighed in capitulation. "Alright, well I better go. My grandma thinks I went to the store to get some milk."

"Don't you hate milk?" Danny asked bemused.

"I know, so I better get the lead out before she gets really suspicious."

Danny smiled. "Sure you don't want a ride?" he asked jerking a thumb over his back.

"Tempting but no," she replied. Just as she did so they both heard a scream of panic. Danny sighed and Sam tensed. "I think that's your cue. You gonna be okay on your own?"

Danny laughed. "Sure, I mean I'm the one with ghosts powers. What's there to worry about?"

With a curt nod Sam took off down the street one way and Danny hurried off in the opposite direction. He'd been hoping he could get home before anyone noticed he was gone. He decided to make this quick, he'd show up, kick some butt, then sneak back home before anyone was any the wiser. He'd done it plenty of times before without getting caught. He figured this time couldn't be any different as long as he was careful. He was usually really careful.

There really wasn't anything to worry about.

He felt like an idiot, he stumbled right into her trap and now he was hoisted six feet in the air by his feet; this was embarrassing. If only he could avoid a scream for help, at least just this one time. He struggled against the bindings holding him in place. The bonds wrapped around his feet were ghost proofed, go figure. Whoever crafted this trap was no ghost, it had to be a human. "Damn it, what's this about?" Danny said aloud in a panic. "Making enemies is something I've never..." he paused and frowned, "well I guess I never really avoided it...But there's no reason for anyone to try to kill me!"

Finally light shone in through the empty warehouse of Axiom labs. He saw a bold feminine figure approaching in the stream of light. "Just what the hell is your grudge against me anyway?" Danny cried irately as he attempted to struggle free from her trap. He stared at her with a pounding headache, he may not have been in his human form but it still felt like all the blood, or ectoplasm, was running to his head.

The Red Huntress stepped forward, gun drawn with a purpose. "You think this is all about you?"

Danny squirmed aggressively. "Yes! Why do you hate me so much?"

"I hate all ghosts, Phantom," she growled.

He was surprised he didn't think Valerie could be capable of so much anger. She always seemed a little hot blooded but never murderous. Now that he was caught was she really going to kill him? He wondered frantically if he should give up and tell her now that he was a human so that she might spare his life. That was of course considering if she had the capacity to spare his life. He began to hyperventilate internally, he was going to die, she was going to murder him, he didn't want to die...he couldn't. Finally Danny reminded himself to calm down, he took in a forced breath of air and released it slowly; he had to stay calm. They were both humans, he could reason with her.

"Why?" The green-eyed ghost asked, his body twisting a bit at the mercy of gravity.

Her head snapped up. "Why what?" she spat as though she couldn't be bothered with such an inane question.

Danny cleared his throat to suppress the shiver up his spine. "Why do you hate ghosts?"

He could feel her eyes burning a hole through him even though he couldn't see them behind the visor. "Ghosts ruined my life." Venom was laced in each and every word.

"How?"

"Stop asking so many questions," the huntress barked. She unclipped a baton from her belt and stuck it in the ghost's side delivering a harsh shock to his incorporate body. She watched him sway back in forth in time to his twitching with a satisfied grin.

"But I didn't!" Danny cried knowing his resistance was apt to be punished.

"All ghosts are the same kind of scum that I'm trying to eliminate, and _you_ are a ghost." Valerie was firm and confident. She didn't seem like the type of girl who wanted to be reasoned with. As far as he could tell she had already made up her mind about this subject a long time ago.

"I don't understand."

"Because of things like you, they took my father away from me. He lost his freedom because ghosts were destroying and stealing equipment and they blamed him. No one would believe him, no one would listen, but I did. Now they've got him locked away, they call him crazy." She turned and clenched her fists. "I won't rest until I capture and destroy every last one of you."

"That's not right, its not justice if you exact revenge on someone who had nothing to do with it." He screamed suddenly as she prodded his side harshly. He twisted frantically and recoiled as pain snaked throughout his body mercilessly. For a moment he nearly lost consciousness but fought the invading darkness with all of his will power.

"But you have everything to do with it," Valerie returned darkly. "You're the ghost that opened the portal."

Danny gasped, his eyes widened. It felt as though his skin had gone cold and that sensation of blood pooling in his frontal lobe dissipated. "W-what?" He trembled, was it possible she knew who he was? If she did then he really was going to die. She obviously didn't seem to care that he was as much Fenton as he was Phantom.

"All the ghosts say it the same way, the ghost-boy opened the portal." She tapped her fingers against the ecto-gun thoughtfully. "I've never seen this 'portal' but I understand it is the largest rift between this world and next." With a swift motion she brought her gun up and pressed it against his forehead, right between his eyes. "And _you_ opened it!"

Stay in control, Danny thought as he felt the cool metal on his face. Don't freak out, she's upset but she won't kill you, he reasoned. Slowly Danny tried to process that he had a small window of time to convince her not to pull the trigger. He wondered if this kind of negotiating was anything like persuading the third shift nurse to let him have night access to the library. Well, he probably couldn't flirt his way out of this kind of situation.

"Wait you're not being fair." Not exactly persuasive. He guessed he wasn't very good at working under this kind of pressure.

"Fair? Fair? Who are you to tell me what's fair?" she shrieked as her trigger finger trembled. "You think I like having a mental patient as a father? You think I like living with my grandmother who can barely feed herself, let alone me? I didn't ask for this life, I don't deserve it. How is that fair?"

"Look...I-I'm sorry. Turn-err..." He bit his tongue for a moment; everyone knew Danny Fenton turned on a machine in his ghost hunting parents' lab. If she didn't know he was a half-ghost he didn't want to give her any reason to start thinking he might be. "Opening the portal was a mistake, it happened by accident. But it was my mistake and-and I'm trying to make things right." He looked at her sincerely but she didn't put down her weapon. "I'm not evil and I'm not trying to hurt anyone."

"How can I trust you?" she demanded sharply.

The ghost stared at her determinedly. "I know it's asking a lot but I want to help."

She sighed and loosened her shoulders. He expected her to begin the process of cutting him loose at this point but instead she sat cross-legged on the warehouse floor. With another sigh she rested her hand on her cheek and looked up at him through the tinted visor. Even though she was exhibiting the decorum of a teenage girl she was still intimidating. If only he could see her eyes and know she meant no harm. After all she had managed to do some serious damage and could do more if enticed. Right now he had her in a pretty good place considering the fact she didn't have a weapon aimed at him anymore.

"So, what are _you_ going to do for _me_?" she asked calmly.

He thought for a minute and decided to suggest the best, and most do-able, thing he could do for her. After all, he was really sure if he could just close the portal. "I can get your dad out."

"No." She tensed. "That wouldn't fix anything. I want him out the proper way, not as an escapee."

"Well..." Danny began and twisted slowly in a half-turn. "I can be the proof that he isn't crazy."

Valerie tapped her chin thoughtfully while making a soft humming noise. For a moment the ghost boy felt a slight elation, she might be considering letting him go. "Can it really be that easy?" she reflected aside to herself. "I have captured you after all..."

"So why not make a big deal about it, get the whole press involved. Prove there are ghosts, call every scientist and show them what you've found."

Valerie let loose a laugh. "They'll have a freaking field day with this: real proof that ghosts exist." Then she got up slowly and stood a solid foot from the ghost. "But what could you possibly get out of this? You'd be a prime candidate for experimentation as soon as I expose you as captured. You don't really want that?"

"See this is where we make a deal; I let you show the world I exist and in return you have to release me right after. Because if you don't all those scientists will take me and they will kill me. So I'm going to trust that you won't let this happen."

Valerie turned away from him and began to pace with her back to the ghost. Danny swallowed, now that the idea was in her head there was no going back. If she didn't agree then he was beyond doomed. "I guess if I prove there are ghosts then I guess they have to let my dad go. I can make a solid case for him and we can be a family again," Valerie remarked suddenly after having deliberated on the deal. She spun on her heel and he could swear he could see her smile behind the mask. "I always think it's funny that you say you can be killed, like you don't remember you're dead."

Danny forced a chortle and a smile, like he wasn't terrified of being dead. "I guess I just don't want to remember..." he offered weakly.

Carefully Valerie walked behind Danny and examined her set up. She supposed if she was going to be keeping him captive then she might as well let him down. Leaving him dangling there was a little impractical. She slowly went about cutting away at the contraption that held the ghostly bindings to the ceiling. "So," she huffed and cut the last rope. With a sharp cry Danny went hurtling toward the ground and hit it with a loud thud. He moaned into the cold cement floor that his face had just made contact with. Leaping down from the chair Valerie gently pushed him over with her boot and stood over him with her hands on her hips. "How did it happen?"

"How did what happen?" Danny grumbled in return, shooting her a glare. She was really going to leave him hog-tied like an animal; for a teenage girl she wasn't very delicate.

"How did you die?"

Danny went silent for a moment and looked up at her with a starched expression. "What?"

"I get that it's "personal" and all but I mean what's the big secret? Should the dead really be so touchy?"

"You could be a little more sensitive..."

"Did it hurt?" Valerie asked suddenly in a gentle voice. "Dying I mean, does it...hurt?"

He had died inside the portal, he guessed that counted as his death even if it had been partial. Danny blinked for a moment and tried to remember the moments before he felt his body shut down. Sometimes he still had dreams about it, they were vague, but the basic concept was still there. The moments of sudden clarity had truly been more painful then the way his muscles had spasmed and cramped while his lungs tighten until no air could enter. The feeling that it was the end had been worse then when he had actually become aware that he would be unable to draw another breath. It had only been a mental shock because the adrenaline had dulled the physical pain of dying.

"Not really..." he answered cautiously. "I mean once you get over the initial realization that it's over it's all just goes fuzzy and you don't feel a thing."

"That's interesting," Valerie said softly, Danny was almost sure he heard her voice crack.

Danny frowned sympathetically. Her curiosity was humanizing in a way. He remembered she was just a girl his age and people his age were typically afraid of death. "You shouldn't feel sorry for me."

"Good thing I don't," she barked and suddenly he knew she was done being expressive. They were back to business and she was one tough customer. She couldn't let anyone think she was weak or God forbid, human, especially not her enemy. She looked down at him and replaced her hands on her hips again to show her aggression. "Hey, I want to tack on a little something more to our little deal." Danny groaned but looked to her submissively. "You destroy that portal and I won't destroy you."

"What?" Danny cried and pulled at his restraints. "No fair! You already promised my protection."

"Yeah," Valerie stated forcefully, "from others. I never said I wouldn't do it myself."

Danny glared at her in outrage. "You jerk! You were planning on killing me this whole time?"

"Like I said, I destroy ghosts."

* * *

_Sorry guys, life's been rough. A friend of mine died in a car accident and I had to drop out of college due to financial issues. I've been having trouble writing but I haven't forgotten you guys. I'm trying to write as much as possible, so bear with me. And thank you for all the reviews. _


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